Transition 2025 Minister Gull-Masty Indigenous Services Canada overview - Book 2

Health and Social

• First Nation and Inuit populations experience disproportionately negative health issues, including lower life expectancy, higher rates of chronic illnesses (e.g., diabetes) and communicable diseases (e.g., tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS), higher infant mortality rates and higher suicide rates, relative to the broader Canadian population. Indigenous individuals are also more likely to report having an underlying health condition (44 percent) than the non-Indigenous population (38 percent).
• The projected life expectancy at birth for the non-Indigenous population in Canada was 81.4 years for males and 87.3 for females. As of 2021, this compares to:
  • First Nations: 72.5 for males and 77.7 for females.
  • Inuit: 70.0 for males and 76.1 for females.
  • Métis: 76.9 for males and 82.3 for females.
• First Nations and Inuit people also face many of the same emerging health priorities as other Canadians (e.g., aging, mental health), but often with more acute consequences due to their poorer access to immediate and preventative health services.
• Although Indigenous Peoples represent only 5 percent of the Canadian population, Indigenous children make up over half (53.8 percent) of the children in foster care.

Text alternative for Percentage of Children Aged 0–14 in Foster Care 2021

This bar chart presents the percentage of children aged 0 to 14 who were in foster care in 2021, by identity group.

• Registered Indian: 4.5%
• Inuit: 3.3%
• Non-Status Indian: 3.0%
• Métis: 1.2%
• Non-Indigenous: 0.2%

Key message:
Indigenous children are significantly overrepresented in foster care in Canada, especially Registered Indian (4.5%), Inuit (3.3%), and Non-Status Indian (3.0%) children, compared to Non-Indigenous children (0.2%).

Education

• There remain persistent gaps in educational attainment among 25-to-64 year-olds.
• The non-Indigenous population with high school education or higher was 90.7 percent in 2021. This compares to:
  • Registered Indian on reserve: 59.9 percent;
  • Registered Indian off reserve: 78.2 percent;
  • Non-Status Indian: 82.7 percent;
  • Inuit: 56.0 percent; and
  • Métis: 85.5 percent.

Text alternative for Share of Population with a Bachelor's Degree or Higher (%)

This bar chart shows the percentage of adults aged 25–64 with a bachelor's degree or higher in 2016 and 2021, broken down by Indigenous identity group and compared to the non-Indigenous population.

Group	2016 (%)	2021 (%)
Registered Indian on-reserve	5.4	9.1
Registered Indian off-reserve	11.3	15.7
Non-Status Indian	11.9	16.4
Inuit	5.3	7.6
Métis	13.6	18.8
Non-Indigenous	29.3	37.0

Key message:

All groups experienced gains in university completion between 2016 and 2021. However, Indigenous populations continued to have significantly lower rates of university completion than non-Indigenous Canadians, with the gap widening slightly over time.

• The gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Peoples with a university degree widened from 2016 to 2021. The largest widening of the gap was found among Inuit, having grown from 24 to 29.4 percent between 2016 and 2021.
• In 2019, ISC introduced a new funding formula that ensures that base funding provided for education is comparable to provincial systems across the country.

Housing

• 5.7 percent of the non-Indigenous population lived in a dwelling in need of major repairs in 2021. This compares to:
  • Registered Indian on reserve: 34.0 percent;
  • Registered Indian off reserve: 10.9 percent;
  • Non-Status Indian: 10.7 percent;
  • Inuit: 21.2 percent; and
  • Métis: 9.4 percent.
• The proportion of non-Indigenous dwellings classified as crowded was 2.3 percent in 2021. This compares to:
  • Registered Indian on reserve: 11.3 percent;
  • Registered Indian off reserve: 2.8 percent;
  • Non-Status Indian: 0.9 percent;
  • Inuit: 13.9 percent; and
  • Métis: 1.0 percent.
• In 2018, 2 percent of non-Indigenous people said that they had experienced unsheltered homelessness in the past. This compares to:
  • First Nations off reserve: 12 percent;
  • Inuit: 10 percent; and
  • Métis: 6 percent.

Employment

• Employment rates were 76 percent in 2016 and 74.1 percent in 2021 for Canada's non‑Indigenous population aged 25-64. Comparatively:
  • First Nations: Employment rate for Registered Indians on reserve increased from 46.9 percent in 2016 to 47.1 percent in 2021. For Registered Indians off reserve, the employment rate decreased from 60.2 percent in 2016 to 58.7 percent. For Non‑Status Indians, the employment rate decreased from 66.1 percent in 2016 to 64.8 percent in 2021.
  • Inuit: Employment rate for Inuit decreased from 57.4 percent in 2016 to 55.2 percent in 2021.
  • Métis: Employment rate for Métis decreased slightly from 70.4 percent in 2016 to 69.1 percent in 2021.

Income

• Substantial gaps in median employment income persist between Indigenous and non‑Indigenous Peoples. The median individual income of the non-Indigenous population aged 25-64 in 2020 was $50,400. This compares to:
  • Registered Indian on reserve: $32,000;
  • Registered Indian off reserve: $42,000;
  • Non-Status Indian: $43,200;
  • Inuit: $42,800; and
  • Métis: $48,800.

Intergenerational Impacts

• Residential Schools: An estimated 150,000 Indigenous children were removed and separated from their families and communities to attend 140 federal residential schools between 1831 and 1997.
• Relocation and Displacement: The forced relocation of Inuit families to the High Arctic in the 1950s to exert Canadian sovereignty in the North resulted in dislocation and starvation. Inuit families were broken up as loved ones were sent to southern Canada for medical treatment during the tuberculosis epidemic, which lasted from the 1940s to the 1960s, many never to return.
• Sixties Scoop: Thousands of First Nations, Inuit and Métis children were taken from their home and families and placed in foster care, and eventually adopted out to non‑Indigenous families across Canada, the United States, and beyond.
• Childhood Class Actions: Canada has settled class actions for day schools, day scholars, 60s Scoop claims and Indian Hospitals.
• Unmarked burials: Burial sites identified since 2021 near former residential schools across Canada act as a stark reminder of past injustices with trauma-related impacts continuing today. Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs is the federal lead to implement Truth and Reconciliation Calls to Actions 71-76, which relate to missing children and burial information. ISC's role is to support community mental wellness and address former residential sites and buildings.

Text alternative for Distribution of Indigenous Identity Groups in Canada, 2021

Description: This pie chart illustrates the proportion of individuals within five Indigenous identity groups in Canada, based on 2021 data.

• Status/Registered Indians: 831,720 individuals, representing 46% of the Indigenous population. These are individuals registered under the Indian Act.
• Métis: 585,105 individuals, or 32%. This includes those affiliated with Métis Nation communities or self-identifying as Métis. The number of self-identified Métis exceeds the number of individuals from recognized rights-bearing Métis communities.
• Non-Status First Nations: 295,290 individuals, or 16%. These are First Nations people not registered under the Indian Act.
• Inuit: 69,710 individuals, making up 4% of the population. Inuit are descendants of the original Arctic inhabitants and may be beneficiaries of Inuit land claims agreements.
• Other Indigenous: 25,425 individuals, or 1%. This group includes those identifying with multiple Indigenous groups or who are members of Indian Bands but not registered under the Indian Act and claiming no Indigenous identity.

Key message: The largest group is Status/Registered Indians (46%), followed by Métis (32%) and Non-Status First Nations (16%). Inuit represent 4%, and individuals identifying as Other Indigenous account for 1% of the Indigenous population in Canada.

Early Contacts

• Since time immemorial, First Nations people and Inuit have continued to live in what we now call Canada. "Contact" refers to the first interactions with Europeans.
• Encountered settlers from 1534 to the early 1900s: Indigenous populations were devastated due to exposure to disease and colonial violence, among other factors.
• Engaged in trade, military alliances and Peace and Friendship Treaties: Indigenous knowledge was instrumental to the survival and flourishing of early settlers.
• Unions between First Nations women and settlers created a distinct Métis culture.

Colonial and Canadian Era

• Royal Proclamation, 1763: British Crown acknowledged Indigenous rights to lands, established protocols for treaty-making and formalized the Crown-Indigenous relationship. A series of treaties were concluded in what is now Southern Ontario.
• After being considered military allies, Indigenous Peoples were increasingly viewed as a detriment to the "proper development" of the colonies.
• Policies of Civilization 1820s: new policies are put in place to create reserve lands for First Nations while encouraging Indigenous communities to abandon traditional ways of life for ones more similar to that of British settlers.
• Education and lands 1840s and 1850s: increased efforts are placed on establishing schools for Indigenous children and the imposition of concepts of land ownership.
• Constitution Act, 1867 (originally enacted as the British North America Act, 1867): section 91(24) assigns federal jurisdiction over "Indians, and lands reserved for the Indians".
• Numbered Treaties, 1871-1921: 11 numbered treaties signed in Ontario, Manitoba, British Columbia, Alberta, Yukon and Northwest Territories for respectful co-existence; some treaties included socio-economic provisions, such as a medicine chest, schools or economic means (e.g., "cows and plows").
• Indian Act: established in 1876, as a means of assimilation, which led to direct control by the federal government and assigned Indian Agents of communities and reserves, imposition of education systems, controlled movement of Indians through pass system, gender discrimination against women who married non-Indigenous men, and loss of status via enfranchisement.
• Paternalism 1880s-1950s: despite the creation of wide-ranging social, healthcare and education programs, the core activities of the Department of Indian Affairs, later integrated as the Indian Affairs Branch within the Department of Mines and Resources (1936-1950) and the Department of Citizenship and Immigration (1950-1966), focused on efforts to control Indigenous Peoples through, for example, residential schools, forced relocations, banning all ceremonies and restricting access to legal counsel.
• Bryce Report, 1907: Chief Medical Health Officer, Dr. Peter Bryce, submitted a report to the Department, revealing that overcrowding and unsanitary living conditions in residential schools were spreading disease and that students were dying from it. Deputy Superintendent Duncan Campbell Scott disregarded the report and prevented it from being officially published and fired Dr. Bryce. In 1922, Dr. Bryce published it himself, titled, The Story of a National Crime.
• Throughout the late 1950s and into the mid 1960s, Canada entered into a number of formal and informal cost-sharing agreements with the provinces and territories for the provision of child welfare services on reserve. Ontario's 1965 Indian Welfare Agreement is still in place.

Activism and Rights Assertion

• 1940s: in the post-war period, regional Indigenous organizations were formed to advocate for changes to policies and improvements to the deteriorating state of Indigenous communities.
• 1969: White Paper - federal policy statement intended to repeal the Indian Act and assimilate Indigenous Peoples into broader Canadian society; Indigenous Peoples responded with Red Paper (also titled "Citizens Plus") for recognition of Indigenous Peoples and their treaty rights.
• 1971: National Indian Brotherhood, later Assembly of First Nations (AFN), provides Canada‑wide representation of First Nations peoples. Also, 1971 marked the creation of Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami (ITK), the primary organization representing Inuit in Canada, out of concerns of Inuit leaders regarding land and resource ownership in Inuit Nunangat.
• 1983: Creation of the Métis National Council (MNC), the organization representing the Métis Nation nationally and internationally.

Recognition

• Modern Treaties 1973: the Calder decision of 1973 pushes the Government of Canada to recognize outstanding First Nations rights over lands and the adoption of the comprehensive land claims process to negotiate new treaties with First Nations communities.
• Section 35 of Constitution Act, 1982, recognizes and affirms Aboriginal and treaty rights of Indigenous Peoples (defined as First Nations, or "Indians," Inuit and Métis).
• Indigenous Peoples advocated for their recognition during attempted Meech Lake Accord (1990) and Charlottetown Accord (1992).
• 1991-1996: Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples made 350 recommendations, including the enactment of legislation and creation of institutions that would provide the authority for Indigenous Peoples' self-determination.

Devolution and Community-Based Services

• Indigenous Control 1970s-1980s: federal programs and policies are changed to allow for increased local control by community governments, starting with schools and education services in the 1970s and later for band governance in the 1980s.
• The James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement, 1975 and Northeastern Quebec Agreement, 1978: first comprehensive land claim agreements signed in modern times.
• Indian Health Policy, 1979: development of a new policy approach to First Nation health‑care that focuses on more community-led services.
• Cree Naskapi Act, 1984 and Sechelt Indian Band Self-Government Act, 1986: first agreements to pull First Nations outside of Indian Act to create self-government.
• Inherent Right Policy, 1995: establishment of a negotiated process to establish self‑government agreements, which has now resulted in 22 agreements across 43 communities and is a central component to Modern Treaties.
• First Nations Land Management Act, 1999: creation of a regime for First Nations to opt‑out of over 40 Indian Act provisions on land, environment and resources, to develop their own land and resources management codes (now the Framework Agreement on First Nation Land Management Act, 2022). Similar regimes have been established in a range of areas, including fiscal management, First Nations elections, commercial development, and oil and gas management.
• All post-2000 modern treaties include self-government agreements.
• Self-determination through federalism:
  • 1999: Territory of Nunavut created.
  • 2014: Northwest Territories became the second territory to take over land and resources responsibilities, as the final major step in the territory's devolution process.
  • 2024: On January 18, 2024, the Government of Nunavut, Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated, and the Government of Canada co-signed the Nunavut Lands and Resources Devolution Agreement. The signing of the Nunavut Lands and Resources Devolution Agreement is the conclusion of a longstanding commitment toward the vision of self-determination of Nunavummiut (Inuktitut term for the people of Nunavut).

Changing Relations and Expectations

• 2007: Jordan's Principle is passed as a motion in Parliament. This principle provides that "where a government service is available to all other children, but a jurisdictional dispute regarding services to a First Nations child arises between Canada, a province, a territory, or between government departments, the government department of first contact pays for the service and can seek reimbursement from other governments or department after the child has received the service." This principle seeks to prevent First Nations children from being denied essential public services or experiencing unreasonable delays in receiving services.
• 2008: Prime Minister Harper apologizes for the Indian Residential school system and its impacts.
• 2013: Tri-partite health service transfer agreement signed in British Columbia, establishing the First Nations Health Authority, which assumed the programs, services, and responsibilities formerly handled by the federal government. The First Nations Health Authority plans, designs, manages, and funds the delivery of First Nations health programs and services in British Columbia. Funding was renewed for ten years in 2023.
• 2015: the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which examined the impacts of Residential Schools, issues 94 Calls to Action to guide reconciliation between Indigenous and non‑Indigenous Peoples in Canada.
• 2016: the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal (CHRT) ordered Canada to cease discriminatory child and family services practices and reform the associated programs and agreements, including fully implementing Jordan's Principle.
• 2017: Announcement of the dissolution of Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada (INAC) and creation of two new departments: Indigenous Services Canada (ISC) and Crown‑Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada (CIRNAC). The First Nations and Inuit Health Branch (FNIHB) joins ISC after 70 years of operation under Health Canada.
• 2018: Inuit Child First Initiative, modelled after Jordan's Principle, introduced to similarly support Inuit children
• 2019:
  • Department of Indigenous Services Act passed by Parliament. This enabling legislation provides a mandate for ISC to work towards the transfer of departmental responsibilities and collaborate with Indigenous partners in all aspects of service delivery.
  • ISC established the New Fiscal Relationship (10-year) Grant for eligible First Nations on April 1, 2019, and 160 First Nations are currently receiving funding for core programs through the Grant as of 2024-2025.
  • The Indigenous Languages Act, which is intended to support the reclamation, revitalization, maintaining and strengthening of Indigenous languages received Royal Assent.
• 2020: An Act respecting First Nations, Inuit and Métis children, youth and families became law. It affirms the rights of First Nations, Inuit and Métis to exercise jurisdiction over child and family services.
• 2020-2021: COVID-19 response sees significant investments in programs and services to support Indigenous communities and businesses through the pandemic and strengthened partnership with Indigenous leadership.
• 2021:
  • Federal Pathway to Address Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls and 2SLGBTQQIA+ People launched.
  • United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act (United Nations Declaration Act) received Royal Assent.
  • Multiple communities announced potential unmarked burials associated with former residential.
• 2022:
  • Inuit-Crown Partnership Committee endorse the Inuit Nunangat Policy, which recognizes Inuit Nunangat – the Inuit homeland – as a distinct geographic, cultural, and political region and to help guide the design, development, and delivery of all new or renewed federal policies, programs, services, and initiatives that apply in Inuit Nunangat or benefit Inuit.
• 2023:
  • Following two years of consultation and cooperation with First Nations, Inuit and Métis from across Canada, the 2023-2028 Action Plan to implement the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act was released.
  • The Federal Court of Canada approved the First Nations Child and Family Services and Jordan's Principle Settlement Agreement. This First Nations-led agreement includes a total of $23.34 billion to compensate First Nations children and families who were harmed by discriminatory underfunding of the First Nations Child and Family Services (FNCFS) Program and those impacted by the federal government's narrow definition of Jordan's Principle. Implementation is ongoing.
  • Bill C-61, First Nations Clean Water Act, was introduced by the Minister of Indigenous Services. It was not passed by Parliament prior to the 2025 election.
• 2024:
  • The Supreme Court of Canada unanimously upheld An Act respecting First Nations, Inuit and Métis children, youth and families as law, following a constitutional challenge and subsequent appeals by Quebec.
  • Independent Special Interlocutor for Missing Children and Unmarked Graves and Burial Sites associated with Indian Residential Schools delivered her Final Report to Survivors and their families, First Nations, Inuit and Métis communities and to the Minister of Justice.
  • In November, Bill S-13, An Act to amend the Interpretation Act and to make related amendments to other Acts, received Royal Assent and immediately came into force, signaling all federal laws, including statutes and regulations, must be interpreted as upholding Aboriginal and treaty rights recognized and affirmed in section 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982.

Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples, 1991-1996

• 350 recommendations, including recognition and implementation of the right to self‑determination, as well as enactment of legislation to create new laws and institutions to provide authority and tools for Indigenous Peoples to structure their own political, social, and economic future.
• Gathering Strength, Canada's response to the report, is released in 1997, and included the Aboriginal Healing Foundation and Statement of Reconciliation.

Truth and Reconciliation Commission

• The 2006 Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement and the 2008 apology of the Prime Minister, combined with findings of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples, led to the launch of a national Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
• Final report was released in 2015 with 94 Calls to Action to:
  • renew the relationship and decolonize institutions;
  • close socio-economic gaps and foster healing; and
  • engage and educate Canadians.
• Canada's response has been advanced through various initiatives (e.g., Indigenous Languages Act, United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act, amending the Oath to Citizenship, establishing National Day for Truth and Reconciliation as an official federal statutory holiday to be marked annually on September 30, etc.).

National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls

• High rates of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls led the Government of Canada to launch a national inquiry in 2016, independent from the federal government.
• Final report was released in 2019 with 231 Calls to Justice.
• In June 2021, the Federal Pathway to Address Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls and Two-Spirit, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning, intersex and asexual People was launched.

United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act

• The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act received Royal Assent on June 21, 2021.
• The work and the mandate of the Department are directly rooted in the rights and principles enshrined in the Declaration.
• The legislation advances the implementation of the Declaration as a key step in renewing the Government of Canada's relationship with Indigenous Peoples and provides a framework for reconciliation.

Joint Review of the Non-Insured Health Benefits Program with the Assembly of First Nations:

• A comprehensive, muti-year review of each Non-Insured Health Benefits benefit area with the goal of identifying and implementing improvements that will identify and address gaps in benefits, enhance client access to benefits, and streamline service delivery to be more responsive to First Nation clients' needs.

Dental Care:

• ISC finalized an memorandum of understanding with Health Canada to support the development, implementation and operations of the Canada Dental Care Plan. Under this memorandum of understanding, the Non-Insured Health Benefits Program is responsible for providing strategic and operational support to the Canadian Dental Care Plan.
• With the inception of Health Canada's Canadian Dental Care Plan and the new landscape of dental programs at the federal level, ISC's National Oral Health Advisory Committee advises multiple federal departments with independent, impartial, and expert professional advice resulting in evidence-informed recommendations.

Product Listing Agreements:

• The Non-Insured Health Benefits Program, through the pharmacy benefit, is a leader for the Government of Canada in negotiating Product Listing Agreements, which are contracts between drug plans and drug manufacturers whereby lower drug prices are secured in the form of rebates negotiated between the parties. The Non-Insured Health Benefits Program has entered into 360 Product Listing Agreements to date. This has also resulted in clients having access to 393 new drugs, which have been added to the Non‑Insured Health Benefits Drug Benefit List (formulary).

Opioids:

• The Non-Insured Health Benefits Program provides a wide range of opioid agonist therapy coverage, enabling prescribers to choose the most appropriate treatment. It also provides coverage for naloxone nasal spray and injection kits as open benefits; and safer opioid supply when within the safety parameters recommended by the Non‑Insured Health Benefits Program's Drugs and Therapeutics Advisory Committee.
• Since 2013, the Non-Insured Health Benefits has been gradually lowering opioid dose amounts covered by the Program and encouraged a slow taper to safer doses, while engaging with prescribers to prevent unsafe dose escalations. An opioid dispensing limit has also been put in place.

About the Initiative

• The Inuit Child First Initiative ensures that Inuit children have equal access to essential government funded health, social and education products, services, and supports.
• The Inuit Child First Initiative (CFI) was jointly announced by Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami (ITK) and ISC on September 10, 2018, as an interim approach based on Jordan's Principle until a new long-term Inuit-specific approach could be co-developed.
• Since its inception, the Inuit Child First Initiative has become a critical source of support for families, improving access to essential services and supports for children where there are gaps in government programming, and helping families cope with emergent needs, such as the increasing costs of basic necessities and rising food insecurity, especially across Inuit Nunangat.

Overview

• Child and Family Services for First Nations children and families is a shared responsibility between Canada, the provinces and Yukon. ISC's First Nations Child and Family Services (FNCFS) Program provides funding for First Nations children and families ordinarily resident on-reserve, while the provinces fund these services to those residing off reserve.
• In the Yukon, the First Nations Child and Family Services Program is delivered to all First Nations children and families regardless of where they live. The First Nations Child and Family Services Program is not delivered in the Northwest Territories, where child and family services are funded by the territorial government through its federal transfer. Child and family services in Nunavut – where the population is largely Inuit – falls under territorial jurisdiction.
• The First Nations Child and Family Services Program provides funding to First Nations and First Nations child and family services agencies, which are established, managed and controlled by First Nations and delegated by provincial legislation. In areas where these agencies do not exist, ISC funds the provinces and Yukon to deliver these services, which are provided in accordance with the legislation and standards of the province or territory of residence.
• The Program funds operations, maintenance (the direct costs of placing First Nations children into temporary or permanent care out of the parental home) and prevention services. It also funds First Nation representative services^{Footnote 4}, post-majority services to youth aging out of care, and capital assets that support the delivery of child and family services on reserve.
• Indigenous children account for only 7.7 percent of Canada's child population but represent 53.8 percent of children in care in private homes (Census 2021). Indigenous children are also 12.4 times more likely to be taken into formal care.
• ISC is working with partners to shift towards a prevention-based funding model to support early intervention and alternatives to traditional institutional care and foster care, such as the placement of children with family members.

Canadian Human Right Tribunal Orders for the First Nations Child and Family Services Program

• In February 2007, the Assembly of First Nations (AFN) and the First Nation Child and Family Caring Society of Canada filed a complaint under the Canadian Human Rights Act alleging that Canada provided inequitable and insufficient funding for child and family services on reserves and in Yukon (compared to provincial funding for off-reserve services), and this underfunding constituted systemic and ongoing discrimination on the basis of race and national or ethnic origin.
• The Chiefs of Ontario (COO) and the Nishnawbe Aski Nation (NAN)^{Footnote 5} were granted intervenor status by the Tribunal. Collectively, with the Assembly of First Nations and the Caring Society, they are referred to as the "parties to the complaint".
• In January 2016, the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal found that Canada had discriminated against First Nations children and their families living on reserves and in the Yukon. In addition to agreeing with the complaint that the Program was not funded to the same levels as provincial child and family services programs being delivered off reserve, the Tribunal found that the Program's funding formulas created a financial incentive for agencies to take children into care, as they did not have the necessary funding to focus on prevention programming. The Tribunal ordered that Canada cease its discriminatory practices and to reform the First Nations Child and Family Services Program (and the 1965 Agreement in Ontario). It also ordered Canada to cease applying its narrow definition of Jordan's Principle and to take measures to immediately implement the its full meaning and scope.
• The Canadian Human Rights Tribunal has since released more than a dozen supplemental decisions on the First Nations Child and Family Services Program and Jordan's Principle.

Long-Term Reform of the First Nations Child and Family Services Program

• Canada has been working at the long-term reform of the First Nations Child and Family Services Program by collaborating with the parties to the complaint and other partners on the establishment of an evidenced-based funding methodology, while meeting needs and ensuring substantive equality for First Nations children and families on reserve. The goal of the First Nations Child and Family Services reform is to ensure that First Nations children, youth, young adults and families have access to culturally-based and substantively equal public services that meet their needs and community circumstances.
• In December 2021, Canada and all the parties to the complaint signed an Agreement-in-Principle on Long-Term Reform of the First Nations Child and Family Services Program and Jordan's Principle with a $20 billion commitment over five years. The Agreement-in-Principle set out a framework for negotiation of a final agreement on long-term reform that would address the orders and seek an end to the oversight of the Tribunal.
• In July 2024, a proposed Final Agreement on Long-Term Reform of the First Nations Child and Family Services Program was reached with the Assembly of First Nations, the Chiefs of Ontario, and Nishnawbe Aski Nation worth $47.8 billion over ten years based on the blueprint of the Agreement in Principle and subsequent feedback of the parties, First Nations and agencies.
• In October 2024, the First Nations-in-Assembly voted to reject the $47.8 billion Final Agreement on the long-term reform of the First Nations Child and Family Services Program. The First Nations-in-Assembly adopted resolutions in October and December of 2024, calling for the establishment of a National Chiefs Children's Commission (NCCC) to lead the negotiation of another agreement.
• Since that time, Canada has negotiated an Ontario-specific Agreement with the Chiefs of Ontario and Nishnawbe Aski Nation, two parties to the complaint. The Chiefs of Ontario, Nishnawbe Aski Nation, and Canada brought a motion to the Tribunal asking that it approve the Ontario-specific Agreement, end its oversight of First Nations Child and Family Services Program in Ontario, and extinguish related orders.
• Canada was also ordered to establish an Expert Advisory Committee to develop and oversee the implementation of an evidence-informed work plan to prevent the recurrence of discrimination within ISC. Recommendations are being considered on how to advance reform of the Department's internal processes, procedures, and practices in this regard.

First Nations Child and Family Services and Jordan's Principle Settlement

• In April 2023, Canada reached the First Nations Child and Family Services, Jordan's Principle and Trout Class Settlement Agreement, which provides $23.3 billion for First Nations children on reserve and in the Yukon, who were removed from their homes, and for their parents and caregivers. It also included compensation for those impacted by the government's narrow definition of Jordan's Principle, as well as for children who did not receive or were delayed receiving an essential public service or product.
• In March 2025, the claims period for the Removed Child and the Removed Child Family Classes opened. People in these classes can now submit a claim.

Results and Outcomes

• Funding for the First Nations Child and Family Services Program has increased from $676.8 million in 2015-2016, to over $3.5 billion now. The Program has undergone substantive changes and several funding elements have been added.
• All First Nations, as well as agencies and provincial service providers (where there are no delegated agencies) now have access to funding for prevention, post majority support services, First Nations representative services and capital. The involvement of First Nations builds a foundation for those seeking to assume jurisdiction under An Act respecting First Nations, Inuit and Métis children, youth and families (see separate overview note on the Act) and gives them the opportunity to align these investments with other social programs they deliver to their members on reserve.

Lead

First Nations Child and Family Services Program and Partnerships Branch

Child and Family Services Reform Sector

About the Program

• An Act respecting First Nations, Inuit and Métis children, youth and families (the Act) was passed in June 2019, and came into force on January 1, 2020.
• The Act affirms the rights of First Nations, Inuit and Métis who are section 35 rights-holders to exercise jurisdiction in relation to child and family services, contributes to the implementation of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and establishes national principles, such as: best interests of the child, cultural continuity and substantive equality, to help guide the provision of child and family services in relation to Indigenous children.
• The Act also aims to shift the focus toward prevention and early intervention, to reduce the number of Indigenous children in care.
• The Act creates a framework whereby Indigenous groups, communities and Peoples implement their own laws to determine what is best for their own children and families, rather than those decisions being made by a federal, provincial or territorial government. Indigenous communities can develop their own service delivery models rooted in their culture and traditions and bring decision-making to the local level in a manner to better fit local needs. Results from early adopters of the Act show early success in reducing the number of Indigenous children in care and an overall shift from protection to prevention.
• To better prepare and enable Indigenous groups, communities and Peoples to exercise their jurisdiction over child and family services, capacity-building funding is available to undertake jurisdictional development activities with the goal of building strong foundations for a successful transition of jurisdiction.
• Once an Indigenous group, community or People that holds rights recognized and affirmed by section 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982 is prepared to assume these responsibilities, under the framework of the Act they can submit, through their Indigenous governing body, to the Minister of Indigenous Services and the government of each province or territory in which they are located either a subsection 20(1) notice of intent to exercise jurisdiction, or a subsection 20(2) request to enter into a coordination agreement.
• As of March 3, 2025, ISC has received 89 notices of intent to pursue jurisdiction and 45 requests to enter into a coordination agreement pursuant to section 20 of the Act.
• Coordination agreement discussions tables provide an opportunity for an Indigenous group to work with the relevant provincial/territorial government and the federal government to determine responsibilities, processes, and coordination of services to help ensure a smooth and effective exercise of jurisdiction in relation to child and family services.
• However, the Act provides that the Indigenous laws will have the force of law as federal law and will prevail over conflicting federal, provincial, and territorial laws when a coordination agreement is concluded or, if no agreement is reached, after 12 months of reasonable efforts by the Indigenous governing body to enter into an agreement.

Top Key Current Files or Projects

• There is significant ongoing effort throughout the country as Indigenous communities or their Indigenous Governing Bodies work to develop and implement their own laws. Eighteen coordination discussion tables are underway - seven to ten could be expected to reach agreement by the end of 2025-2026.
• Efforts continue with provinces and territories to ensure that roles, responsibilities, and funding commitments are appropriately shared.

Results and Outcomes

• As of April 1, 2025, 12 tripartite coordination agreements and three bilateral agreements have been signed. To date, Canada has committed more than $2.4 billion to support the implementation of Indigenous laws through these fifteen agreements.
• Since the inception of capacity-building funding in 2020, 427 proposals have been submitted by Indigenous communities or their Indigenous Governing Bodies and approved for a total of $181,837,726 in funding from ISC to date. In 2024-2025, 144 Indigenous recipients and three national Indigenous organizations received $77.2 million for jurisdictional development activities.
• In 2024-2025, 11 Indigenous Governing Bodies began coordination agreement discussions, transitioning from capacity-building. Since 2021, 15 Indigenous Governing Bodies have entered into bilateral or trilateral agreements, and an additional 18 are currently in coordination agreement discussions.
• Since 2020, Canada has supported Indigenous Governing Bodies to engage in coordination agreement discussions with more than $49.7 million in funding.

Lead

First Nations Child and Family Services Program and Partnerships Branch

Child and Family Services Reform Sector

Context

• Recent data indicates that:
  • 44 percent of individuals living on reserve are considered to live in low income, with income levels below the Low-Income Measure (LIM). This is almost five times higher than the general population (9 percent).
  • Continuing a trend observed in previous censuses, the 2021 Census showed that the Indigenous population is younger than the non-Indigenous population. The average age of Indigenous People was 33.6 years in 2021, compared with 41.8 years for the non‑Indigenous population.
  • The Indigenous population living in large urban centers - 801,045 people - which accounts for 44.3 percent of the total Indigenous population, has grown by 12.5 percent from 2016 to 2021.
  • Rates of unemployment have been found to be higher among Indigenous Peoples (9.8 percent) in contrast to non-Indigenous populations (6.2 percent).
  • Just over one in six working-age Indigenous people (17.2 percent) were "close to retirement" age, compared with 22 percent for the non-Indigenous population. With a larger share of the non-Indigenous population nearing retirement age, future census data may see the Indigenous population accounting for a larger share of the labor force.
  • Despite the relative youth of Indigenous People, the share of Indigenous People aged 65 years and older continues to grow. From 2016 to 2021, the share of Indigenous People aged 65 years and older rose from 7.3 percent to 9.5 percent.

Lead

Social Policy and Programs Branch

Education and Social Development Programs and Partnerships Sector

About the Program

• The Assisted Living Program provides funding for non-medical social support services for low-income individuals ordinarily resident on reserve and Status First Nations in Yukon, including seniors, persons with disabilities, and individuals living with chronic health issues or activity limitations. There are three main components to the Program:
  • In-Home Care provides funding support for non-medical support services, such as meal programs and housekeeping.
  • Institutional Care provides for Types roman numeral 1I^{Footnote 6} and roman numeral 2II^{Footnote 7} levels of care (such as care provided in provincially licensed residential facilities).
  • Adult Foster Care provides funding support for supervision and care of individuals who are unable to live on their own due to physical, cognitive or psychological limitations and who do not need continuous medical attention.
• For Assisted Living In-Home Care, Institutional Care services, and Adult Foster Care, clients must be:
  • Ordinarily a resident on reserve^{Footnote 8} or status First Nations in Yukon.
  • Formally assessed by designated social service and/or health professionals, as defined by ISC, and requiring one or more of the eligible expenditures, using care assessment criteria developed by ISC.
  • Unable to obtain such services without support or to access other federal or provincial/territorial sources of support, as confirmed by an assessment covering employability, family composition, age, and financial resources available to the household.
• Assisted Living is provided primarily through contribution agreements with First Nations. First Nations Band Councils and Tribal Councils may deliver programs directly, share services with other recipients, or enter into agreements for service delivery with other recipients.

Top Key Current Files or Projects

• Long-term and Continuing Care Framework: To better support First Nations and Inuit individuals living with chronic illnesses and disabilities, Budget 2019 provided $8.5 million for ISC to work with First Nations and Inuit communities on developing a new and more holistic long-term and continuing care (LTCC) framework. This is a joint initiative between Assisted Living and First Nations and Inuit Home and Community Care programs. As part of the 2022 Fall Economic Statement, an additional $10.1 million was announced to continue the efforts of co-developing distinctions-based policy options for a new Long-Term and Continuing Care framework that includes $2.8 million for Métis‑led engagement activities and $7.2 million that can be accessed by existing First Nations, Inuit and Métis long-term and continuing care engagement partners to support the development of short-term capacity building projects.

Key Milestones

• ISC supported regional Indigenous-led engagement activities that concluded in the fall of 2022, and which aimed to gain input from a wide range of First Nations and Inuit partners, organizations, and individuals on the elements of a holistic long-term care continuum that responds to their needs.
• In 2022, roughly 35 regional reports from First Nations partners were amalgamated into a national summary report, that was shared with partners for validation in February/March 2023. At the same time, Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami provided a national report summary on behalf of Inuit partners.
• Options for a new and more holistic long-term and continuing care framework have been co-developed with First Nations and Inuit partners and a proposed new policy options has been developed.
• Regional Métis-led engagement activities concluded in fall 2024; the Department is drafting an Engagement Summary report to detail the findings of this work.

Results and Outcomes

• In 2024-2025, the Assisted Living Program estimates that $172 million is serving 16,500 individuals and families of those, approximately 850 are living in long-term and continuing care facilities.

Lead

Social Policy and Programs Branch

Education and Social Development Programs and Partnerships Sector

About the Program

• Family Violence Prevention Program helps improve the safety and security of Indigenous (First Nations, Inuit and Metis) women, children, families, and 2SLGBTQQIA+ people through the provision of funding for violence prevention projects and funding the operations of a network of emergency shelters across Canada, including urban centres and the North.
• ISC also funds community-driven violence prevention initiatives, such as awareness raising, stress and anger management seminars and support groups.

Top Key Current Files or Projects

• Call for Proposals: The Family Violence Prevention Program's annual Call for Proposals for violence prevention activities that focus on First Nation, Inuit, Métis, urban or 2SLGBTQQIA+ people facing gender-based violence. The activities supported by this Call may include, but are not limited to:
  • Enhanced wrap-around services.
  • Case management.
  • Programs to reduce the risk of sexual exploitation.
  • Culturally appropriate mental health and addiction supports.
  • Public outreach and awareness.
  • Conferences and workshops.
  • Stress and anger management seminars.
  • Support groups.
  • Community needs assessments.

Results and Outcomes

• The Program provides financial support for culturally-appropriate violence prevention projects across Canada, such as public awareness campaigns, stress and anger management support groups, and community needs assessments. In 2024-2025, a total of $68.8 million was provided to Indigenous organizations to support violence prevention activities.
• The Program provides annual core funding to the National Indigenous Circle Against Family Violence to act as a national coordinator by supporting shelters and their staff through training forums, prevention activities, research and collaboration with key partners.

Lead

Social Policy and Programs Branch

Education and Social Development Programs and Partnerships Sector

About the Program

• ISC funds First Nations funding recipients to provide Income Assistance (IA) to eligible individuals and their dependents who are resident on reserve or Status Indians living in Yukon.
• Income assistance provides funds for living expenses, such as food, clothing, rent, utilities, and essential household items.
• Case management and pre-employment supports funding is also provided (in 29 percent of First Nations outside of Ontario and Yukon) to help individuals move into employment or education.
• Income Assistance is a program of last resort when no other sources of funds are available, which operates alongside other federal support programs available on reserve, such as the Canada Child Benefit (Canada Revenue Agency), Employment Insurance (considered first payer, if eligible), and Old Age Security (Employment and Social Development Canada).

Top Key Current Files or Projects

• Advancing program reform to make the Program more responsive to the needs of individuals and families living on reserve.

Key Milestones

• Implementation of new disability income supports for eligible Income Assistance clients on reserve.

Results and Outcomes

• The Department's Income Assistance expenditures for 2024-2025 was $1,351,794,033.
• In 2020-2021, income assistance helped 82,460 clients and their dependents (146, 236 people in total).
• In the same year, 7,928 clients received case management and pre-employment supports, from which approximately 2,843 exited income assistance. While a direct or causal link cannot yet be established, since the introduction of pre-employment supports in 2013, on‑reserve income assistance dependency has decreased from 34 percent in 2011-2012 to 26.6 percent in 2020-2021.

Lead

Social Policy and Programs Branch

Education and Social Development Programs and Partnerships Sector

About the Program

• As the only ISC program that specifically focuses on Indigenous Peoples living in, transitioning to, or accessing services in urban centers, the Urban Programming for Indigenous Peoples (UPIP) assists First Nations (status and non-status), Inuit and Métis peoples by providing financial support to urban Indigenous service delivery organizations.
• Urban Programming for Indigenous Peoples provides funding to a wide range of organizations, including the National Association of Friendship Centers, the Ontario Federation of Indigenous Friendship Centers, Métis and Inuit organizations, Indigenous coalitions, and other/non-affiliated organizations.
• The Program consists of six funding streams: Organizational Capacity; Programs and Services; Coalitions; Research and Innovation; Infrastructure; and Housing.

Top Key Current Files or Projects

• Infrastructure: Together, Budget 2019 and Budget 2021 allocated $260 million for urban infrastructure from 2020-2021 to 2024-2025. A call for proposals was launched in winter 2022 for 2023-2024 and 2024-2025 projects to support immediate infrastructure needs of urban and rural Indigenous service delivery organizations. Over 200 applications were received, and funding was allocated towards 169 projects. As of September 2024, 110 projects have been completed.

Key Milestones

• Supporting minor infrastructure investments (under $1 million) in essential health and safety and energy efficiency renovations (from fall 2019).
• Supporting major capital infrastructure investments (over $1 million) through the Urban Indigenous Capital Funding stream (from 2020 onwards).
• Working directly with set-aside partners to set priorities and manage existing funding until 2024-2025.
• Supporting coalitions and non-affiliated organizations to continue to serve Indigenous populations in urban centers.
• Engaging with partners on a new Indigenous-led and co-developed Urban Programming for Indigenous Peoples performance framework and developing the associated Data Collection Instrument, rooted in Indigenous methodologies and measures of success.

Results and Outcomes

• As of September 2024, $252.4 million had been committed to 169 urban infrastructure projects, including minor infrastructure (such as replacement of doors and windows, removal of mold, and interior renovations) and major infrastructure projects (such as building purchases, expansions, and new construction projects).

Lead

Social Policy and Programs Branch
Education and Social Development Programs and Partnerships Sector

About the Program

• The Pathways Initiative supports Indigenous communities in leading their own safety and wellness efforts. It supports local, community-driven solutions and includes professionals from outside the justice system.
• In response to Indigenous communities' requests for self-determined community safety solutions, Budget 2021 committed $103.8 million over five years to the Pathways Initiative (2021-2022 to 2025-2026). In November 2022, an additional $20 million top-up over three years was announced.
• The Pathways Initiative's broad terms and conditions provide communities the flexibility to respond to the specific safety needs of their communities. Projects funded by the Pathways Initiative range from land-based healing initiatives, the development of youth centres, community liaison officers to enhance the safety of communities, a pilot project to develop First Nations by-laws, the establishment of networks to address missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls, as well as capital investments to improve community safety infrastructure (such as lighting, fencing, and new shelter space).

Top Key Current Files or Projects

• Efforts are currently underway to finalize funding arrangements for the final funding year of the Pathways Initiative.

Key Milestones

• Pathways launched an open, ongoing call for proposals in April 2022. By February 2023, Pathways had received 210 proposals and the open call was closed for the remaining years of the Program due to overwhelming demand. The Program is no longer accepting new applications.
• Funding for the Pathways Initiative and Strategic Policy and Partnership's community safety policy team is set to sunset at the end of fiscal year 2025-2026.

Results and Outcomes

• Since Pathways was launched in 2022, 84 projects worth over $119 million have been funded to improve community safety and well-being.

Lead

Evaluation and Policy Redesign Branch

Strategic Policy and Partnerships Sector

First Nations

• ISC supports First Nations students in their pursuit of post-secondary education through the First Nations Post-Secondary Education Strategy, which includes five components:
  • The Post-Secondary Student Support Program provides First Nations post‑secondary students with financial support to advance towards a recognized post-secondary education credentials.
  • The University and College Entrance Preparation Program supports First Nations students enrolled in university and college entrance preparation programs to attain the entrance requirements for a degree or diploma credit program.
  • The Post-Secondary Partnerships Program provides funding to support First Nations post-secondary institutions.
  • Regional Post-Secondary Education Models are intended to support First Nations control of First Nations education.
  • The First Nations Adult Secondary Education Program provides an optional post‑secondary funding mechanism for the implementation and expansion of programming to support eligible adult learners' preparation for, completion, or upgrading of secondary studies.

Inuit and Métis Post-Secondary Education Strategies

• Through separate education strategies for Inuit and Métis students, ISC allocates funds to Inuit and Métis recipients, who then provide funding for academic and living expenses to students pursuing post-secondary education.

Context

• Recent data indicates that:
  • In 2021, 35.7 percent of First Nations people living on reserve lived in housing that was considered overcrowded, compared to 9.4 percent of the non‑Indigenous population in Canada.
  • 37.4 percent of First Nations people living on reserve reported living in a dwelling in need of major repairs in 2021, compared to 5.7 percent of non‑Indigenous households.
  • As of March 5, 2025, 147 long-term drinking water advisories have been lifted since November 2015.
  • In 2020, approximately 13 percent of First Nations schools have a 'poor' operations and maintenance rating. More than half (57 percent) of schools have a 'fair' rating and 18 percent of schools have a 'good' rating.
  • As of March 2024, 42 percent of other community infrastructure had a condition rating of "good" or "new".

Lead

Regional Operations Sector

About the Service

• ISC is working with partners to strengthen water and wastewater infrastructure and build operator capacity in First Nation communities, improve drinking water monitoring, address long-term drinking water advisories on public systems, and develop sustainable, long-term solutions to improve access to clean water.
• ISC supports the delivery of water and wastewater services to First Nation communities through the First Nations Water and Wastewater Enhanced Program.

Top Key Current Files or Projects

• ISC is partnering with First Nation communities and organizations on approaches to ensure that water and wastewater systems in First Nation communities are safe and better meet the unique needs of each community. Comprehensive action plans are in place to lift long-term drinking water advisories affecting public systems in First Nation communities.
• The Circuit Rider Training Program was established in 1994 and is ISC's primary mechanism for the delivery of technical support and training for water and wastewater operators on reserve. Annually, ISC spends approximately $24 million to support First Nations water and wastewater operator training, including funding the Circuit Rider Training Program. Trained operators are key to helping First Nations reduce risks and to ensuring safe drinking water in their communities.
• ISC continues to support innovative solutions to improve the retention, recruitment, and capacity building of water and wastewater operators, including from underrepresented groups like women and youth, working on reserve to ensure that First Nation communities have sustainable access to drinking water.
• In addition, Environmental Public Health Officers work with First Nation communities to provide public health advice and verify the overall safety of drinking water at tap in all water systems. Further, the Community-Based Water Monitor Program enables First Nations communities to sample and test their drinking water for microbiological contamination.

Key Milestones

• In December 2021, the Courts approved the Safe Drinking Water for First Nations Class Action Settlement Agreement to resolve class action litigation on safe drinking water in First Nations communities. The Settlement Agreement includes compensation for First Nations and their members harmed by long-term drinking water advisories and forward‑looking measures to help ensure safe drinking water for generations to come.
• Bill C-61, the proposed First Nations Clean Water Act, was introduced in Parliament on December 11, 2023. Its primary aim was to recognize the right of First Nations to self‑governance over water on their lands and to establish minimum standards for water quality and quantity.
• Due to the prorogation of Parliament on January 6, 2025, progress on all proposed legislation, including Bill C-61, has ended; however, Indigenous Services Canada remains committed to continuing to work with partners to support the provision of safe and clean drinking water in First Nation communities now and in the future.

Results and Outcomes

• Since 2016, and as of December 31, 2024, ISC has committed more than $7.16 billion in targeted funding to support 1,453 water and wastewater projects. These projects serve approximately 479,000 people in 591 First Nation communities.
• This funding also supports the goal of ending long-term drinking water advisories on public systems on reserve. From November 2015 to April 2025, the number of long-term drinking water advisories on public systems in First Nation communities has declined from 105 to 35. A further 302 short-term drinking water advisories were resolved over the same period, preventing them from becoming long-term.
• Drinking water advisories are issued to warn people to not drink water that may be unsafe or is known to not be safe based on water quality test results. Short-term drinking advisories are those in place for less than one year and long-term advisories are those that have been in place for more than one year.
• Risk is assessed to determine how well a water system is functioning and what maintenance and repairs are required, based on system design, system operation and maintenance, operator training and certification, record keeping and reporting, and analysis of the water source and wastewater effluent receiver. A low risk system indicates that there were few or no deficiencies found. Medium risk systems have minor deficiencies in several areas or major deficiencies in one or two areas. A high-risk drinking water system is defined as a system that has major deficiencies in several aspects.
• Departmental data indicates that the percentage of high-risk public water systems on reserve has fallen from 27.8 percent in 2011-2012, to 8.2 percent in 2023-2024, while the percentage of low risk water systems has risen from 35.9 percent in 2011-2012, to 63.8 percent in 2023-2024.
• Similarly, the percentage of wastewater systems identified as high risk has fallen from 11.6 percent in 2011-2012 to 3.7 percent in 2023-2024, while the percentage of wastewater systems identified as low risk has increased from 46.6 percent in 2011-2012 to 48.1 percent in 2023-2024.
• All First Nation communities have access to trained personnel (Community-Based Drinking Water Quality Monitor or an Environmental Public Health Officer) to sample and test drinking water quality at the tap. As a result of enhanced capacity, First Nations' and ISC's ability to detect potential problems sooner has improved.
• The percentage of public drinking water systems on-reserve with primary operators certified to the level of the system increased from 69 percent in 2016-2017, to 71.5 percent in 2023-2024. The percentage of public wastewater systems on reserve with primary operators certified to the level of the wastewater system decreased slightly from 59 percent in 2016–2017, to 55.6 percent in 2023-2024.

Lead

Community Infrastructure Branch

Regional Operations Sector

About the Service

• Indigenous Services Canada provides core funding of approximately $149.5 million to First Nations for safe and adequate on-reserve housing. First Nations can use these funds to build and renovate houses, as well as contribute towards costs, such as maintenance, insurance, debt servicing, and the planning and management of housing.
• In addition, ISC has invested $2.67 billion of $4.6 billion in targeted committed funds to support on-reserve housing.
• Housing is a key determinant of health and lays the foundation for improving socio‑economic outcomes and well-being for First Nations.

Top key current files or projects

• First Nations have led the development of a National First Nations Housing and Related Infrastructure Strategy. The Strategy is a roadmap to lasting improvements to First Nations housing, including supporting governance and delivery (e.g., establishment of regional housing authorities), funding and finance (e.g., development of new financing options) and skills and capacity (e.g., support for First Nations housing managers).
• Through targeted investments, ISC has been providing dedicated funding for housing management in First Nation communities to support the successful delivery and sustainability of housing services. Specifically, funding supports the recruitment, training and retention of qualified housing managers in First Nation communities, as well as investments into the development of professional training and designations for housing managers and technical supports to assist smaller communities that may encounter challenges in recruiting and retaining qualified housing staff.
• ISC is also supporting the financial innovation efforts through the Yänonhchia's Indigenous Housing Finance Initiative, which aims to bolster homeownership on reserve by establishing a revolving fund to back housing loans provided by Indigenous Financial Institutions (IFIs). Once operational, Yänonhchia's revolving fund would help creditworthy individuals access housing loans without the need for band or tribal guarantees.

Key Milestones

• Since April 2016, the Government of Canada has committed to investing $4.6 billion until 2028-2029, through ISC to address housing needs on reserves.
• ISC has invested $2.67 billion of targeted funds (excluding operating expenses), which will result in 26,429 units being renovated or built, and lots acquired or serviced, of which; 3,848 new units have been completed; 8,716 renovations and upgrades have been completed, and 1,938 lots serviced or acquired. This will benefit 611 First Nation communities, serving approximately 481,000 people.
• Additionally, 2,308 housing-related capacity development and innovation projects in First Nations communities are being funded, of which 1,069 projects are complete and another 1,239 are underway.

Results and outcomes

• The Department measures results related to suitable and adequate housing, including:
  • The percentage of First Nations housing that is adequate as assessed and reported annually by First Nations (most recent result: 74.1 percent in 2022-2023).
  • The percentage of First Nations households living in a dwelling that contains more than one person per room (new indicator).
  • Census 2021 found that First Nations housing had improved over Census 2016 results.
  • Overall, the share of First Nations People living in crowded housing has declined by 1.2 percentage points from 2016.
  • In 2021, almost one in five First Nations people (19.7 percent, or 206,845 people) were living in a dwelling in need of major repairs, down 3.9 percentage points from 2016.

Lead

Community Infrastructure Branch

Regional Operations Sector

Top Key Current Files or Projects

• Funding through National Indigenous Collaborative Housing Inc. for projects addressing urgent, unmet housing needs: National Indigenous Collaborative Housing Inc. held a national expression of needs process for proposals and applied a "For Indigenous, By Indigenous" approach in selecting its projects.
• Delivery of funding: ISC is currently working with First Nations organizations in the provinces to deliver funding to support their self-identified urban, rural, and northern Indigenous housing priorities.

Results and Outcomes

• National Indigenous Collaborative Housing Inc. has supported 74 projects across the country aimed at building more than 3,800 units.

Lead

Social Policy and Programs Branch

Education and Social Development Programs and Partnerships Sector

About the Service

• ISC funds construction, renovations, and maintenance of education infrastructure on reserve. Investments in education infrastructure support the creation of quality learning environments that are safe and healthy, promoting better educational outcomes for First Nation students living on reserve. These investments include new construction, as well as additions, renovations, and major repairs to existing schools in First Nations communities.
• The First Nations Enhanced Education Infrastructure Fund received $471 million through Budget 2024 over three years, starting in 2024-2025. In addition, approximately $90 million is spent annually in ongoing funding.

Operations and Maintenance for Education Infrastructure

• ISC provides funding annually for operations and maintenance of school facilities in First Nations communities based on provincial comparability.
• Operations and maintenance for teacherages, federal schools, and student residences are funded annually through a formula-based allocation under the Capital Facilities and Maintenance Program.

Top Key Current Files or Projects

• ISC is seeking to support 23 education infrastructure projects that were identified by a National List of Education Infrastructure Projects. This list was based on regional priorities which focussed on health and safety risks and overcrowding concerns, and includes 13 new schools and various school designs, seismic upgrade projects and renovations. Some highlights include a new school in Beaver Lake Alberta, a new school in Piikani First Nation and school renovations in Sandy Lake, Ontario. Projects have been announced to recipient First Nations and the Department is working with partners to advance the approved projects.
• An Assembly of First Nations Infrastructure Needs Assessment from 2021 calculated that First Nations will require $3.8 billion in capital needs over five years for new school construction, additions, planning, and design.
• This follows a 2023 revision to ISC's School Space Accommodation Standards which increased the space allocation for First Nation schools. This policy update allows for school learning environments that meet the capacity of First Nations and are comparable to off-reserve allocations. There is space allocated for language, cultural, land-based learning, knowledge keepers and Indigenous ways of knowing for First Nation students.

Results and Outcomes

• Since 2016 and as of December 31, 2024, ISC has invested $2.22 billion of targeted funds (excluding operating expenses) to support 324 school infrastructure and supporting projects (190 are complete). These projects will result in the construction or renovation of 234 schools benefitting approximately 39,000 students.

Lead

Regional Infrastructure Delivery Branch

Regional Operations Sector

About the Service

• The First Nation Infrastructure Fund's eligible projects include solid waste management and eight types of Other Community Infrastructure: roads and bridges, connectivity, cultural and recreation facilities, fire protection, energy systems, planning and skills, structural mitigation and band administrative buildings.
• Annually, there is an average of $250 million of targeted funding available through multiple budgets for these critical infrastructure categories, until 2027-2028.

Top Key Current Files or Projects

• Affordable and alternative energy: ISC is supporting First Nations-led efforts to transition from fossil fuel to clean and affordable energy systems through a combination of alternative energy projects. ISC and the Wataynikaneyap Transmission Project is supporting the connection of 16 First Nations communities in northern Ontario to the provincial electricity grid.
• Winter Roads: There are 54 First Nations (60,000 people) on reserves serviced by 6,000 kilometers of winter roads in Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta. These roads are constructed over land and frozen water bodies (ice roads) and are typically open for three months each year. Budget 2024 is providing $89 million to support projects to convert two winter roads networks into all-season roads – the Hatchet Lake All-Season Road Project in Saskatchewan and the Berens River Bridge and Roads Project in Ontario. They will create new economic development opportunities, safer travelling conditions and improved access to goods and services, such as medical care and groceries.
• Structural Mitigation: Funding over five years, starting in 2024-2025, was provided for ISC to support First Nations in protecting their communities against the impacts of climate change through structural mitigation projects. They can range from constructing dykes and dams or elevated roads and bridges to withstand flooding, to building rain gardens on rooftops of new buildings to reduce rain runoff.
• Fire Protection: Fire protection services, including firefighting supports, operating and maintaining fire halls and purchasing fire trucks, firefighting tools and equipment, can mean the difference between life and death. While First Nations manage fire protection services on reserve, ISC provides funding to First Nations to support these services, as well as fire insurance.

Results and Outcomes

• ISC has invested $3.26 billion in targeted funds to support 1,924 Other Community Infrastructure projects, 1,156 of which have been completed.

Lead

Infrastructure Delivery Branch

Regional Operations Sector

About the Service

• Through this program, Indigenous Services Canada (ISC) works with First Nations and Inuit communities to provide funding for infrastructure that supports the delivery of health-related programs and services.
• ISC's Health Facilities Program supports the planning, design, construction, renovation and maintenance of essential health services to First Nation communities across Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland and Labrador.
• ISC provides capital funding support to a diverse health infrastructure portfolio that includes approximately 360 health facilities and 250 associated residences for health professionals, 45 addictions treatment centers, and related infrastructure support buildings in First Nation communities. This inventory represents more than 292,000 m2 of floor space, has an average chronological age of 25 years, and an estimated replacement value of more than $4 billion.
• Funding also supports infrastructure for the delivery of programs such as the Aboriginal Head Start on Reserve (AHSOR) program that supports child development and school readiness for children living in First Nation communities on reserves.
• Major capital investments in health facilities and health professional accommodations are required at discrete points in each health facility's lifecycle to minimize risks from preventable infrastructure failures and unplanned facility closures.

Top Key Current Projects

• ISC supports the advancement of complex, strategic and multi-partnership major capital investments in Indigenous health infrastructure with regional significance. Some examples include:
  • Federal investments of $1.2 billion in partnership with the Government of Ontario contributing additional $1.2 billion for the replacement of the Weeneebayko General Hospital (WGH), originally built in 1950 (the oldest unrenovated hospital) with the a new Weeneebayko Area Health Authority (WAHA) Hospital complex, including multiple facilities, such as the main acute care hospital, ambulatory care clinic, staff residences, long term Elder lodge. Planned construction is in 2030.
  • Investment of $82 million for the construction of the Grassy Narrows Mercury Care Home and Wellness Centre to provide specialized services for community members with mercury care needs with planned completion in 2027-2028. In addition, through a 30 year funding agreement, ISC is providing $68.9 million in upfront funding for the operation and services of the centre. The community is negotiating additional operational funding with the Province of Ontario.
• An investment of $21.3 million in the construction of a Virtual Health Hub initiative in Saskatchewan is a highly-innovative, Indigenous-led healthcare delivery project designed to increase the availability of services to Saskatchewan's northern and rural communities and beyond. It combines cutting-edge virtual care technologies, Artificial Intelligence, and robotic systems with local healthcare teams to help care for patients in a timely and cost-efficient manner, as well as concurrently increase the number of Indigenous and non-Indigenous healthcare professionals and technologists trained to work in virtual healthcare.

Results and Outcomes

• Since 2016 and as of December 31, 2024, ISC has invested $1 billion of targeted funds (excluding operating expenses) to support 651 infrastructure projects to design, replace, expand, repair or otherwise renovate First Nation health facilities, health professional accommodations, addictions treatment centres, addictions treatment centres for youth, other health infrastructure, and facilities hosting Aboriginal Head Start on Reserve (AHSOR) and other Indigenous Early Learning and Child Care (IELCC) programming.
• These projects will benefit 361 communities, serving approximately 357,000 people. Of these, 534 projects are complete. 100 health facilities projects have been undertaken in First Nation communities to better align their health programming and related facilities with community-identified health service delivery priorities. As of December 31, 2024, 63 of these are complete, including 30 addiction treatment centre construction projects and 437 Indigenous Early Learning and Child Care infrastructure projects.

Lead

Capacity, Infrastructure, and Accountability Division

First Nations and Inuit Health Branch

About the Programs

• ISC works to support greater First Nation governance and control over reserve lands.
• The Framework Agreement on First Nation Land Management is an agreement that enables First Nations to opt-out of 44 lands-related sections of the Indian Act and replace them with a community-approved land code.
• First Nations with a land code in force exercise full jurisdiction and law-making authority over their reserve lands and environment, and manage all land transactions (e.g., permits and leases) that would require federal oversight and approval under the Indian Act. First Nations operating with a land code are able to pursue community and economic development goals in line with their own priorities and often more quickly.
• Canada's obligations under the Framework Agreement and the Framework Agreement on First Nation Land Management Act are jointly administered by the Minister of Crown‑Indigenous Relations and the Minister of Indigenous Services.
  • While the Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations has legislative authority over the Framework Agreement on First Nation Land Management Act, the Minister of Indigenous Services has been delegated nearly all implementation responsibilities.
• The success of the Framework Agreement on First Nation Land Management relies on partnerships between Canada and the Lands Advisory Board, an elected First Nation organization, and the First Nations Land Management Resource Centre, a technical and service delivery organization established by the Lands Advisory Board.
• The Reserve Land and Environment Management Program supports First Nations to develop the capacity needed to exercise increased responsibility over their reserve land, resources and environment under the Indian Act. In building this foundational capacity, the Program supports greater service delivery by First Nations. Its success relies heavily on partnerships between ISC, the National Aboriginal Lands Managers Association, and Regional Lands Associations, which support training and professional development.
• In addition to these core programs, ISC works to ensure that First Nations have the tools required to plan and manage their reserve lands effectively. ISC supports the First Nations Land Management Resource Centre and the National Aboriginal Land Managers Association in their delivery of the Land Use Planning Initiative, which helps First Nations develop Land Use Plans that reflect their environmental, social, and economic priorities.
• The Minister of Indigenous Services is also responsible for the Family Homes on Reserves and Matrimonial Interests or Rights Act, which establishes a legal framework to protect and address concerns related to matrimonial real property on reserves, such as the occupation and use of the family home after the death of, or separation from, a spouse or common-law partner. The Act provides a mechanism for First Nations to create their own matrimonial real property laws, and includes rules that act a backstop until a First Nation has enacted their own laws. The Act was enacted in 2013 to address a legislative gap (i.e., provincial and territorial matrimonial real property laws do not apply on reserves).

Top Key Current Files or Projects

• Budget 2023 provided $187 million over five years and $34.5 million ongoing to First Nations Land Management to support a new operational funding formula for First Nations under the Framework Agreement, and to welcome another 50 First Nation entrants by 2028. In addition, it provided $30 million over five years (2023-2024 to 2027-2028) to expand the Reserve Lands and Environment Management Program. To date, 14 First Nations have been added to the Framework Agreement and 20 First Nations have joined the Reserve Lands and Environment Management Program under this funding.
• Supported by a Budget 2023 commitment of $35.5 million, the Lands Advisory Board is working with ISC and CIRNAC on developing a new, independent First Nations-led Land Governance Registry. This is a key area for improvement for First Nation land governance, as the current system in which land-related documents are registered with ISC is outdated and cumbersome.
• The Lands Advisory Board continues to advocate for greater provincial and federal support for the enforcement and prosecution of First Nation land code laws, which has been a longstanding issue for communities. First Nations often struggle to enforce their laws, having to turn to burdensome and expensive options, such as private prosecutions with limited success, creating a public safety issue for communities. ISC provides support through the First Nations Land Management Resource Centre to fund enforcement pilot projects for land code communities, and has supported outreach with federal and provincial partners.
• The Reserve Lands and Environment Management Program is being modernized through updating criteria to ease barriers to entry, streamlining reporting, and streamlining the roles and responsibilities of Indigenous partners.

Results and Outcomes

• There are currently 217 signatories to the Framework Agreement. In total, 62 First Nations have full jurisdiction over their reserve lands under the Framework Agreement on First Nation Land Management.
• As of March 2025, 118 First Nations are considered "operational", having fully implemented their land codes. 48 First Nations are actively working towards development and ratification of a land code.
• There are currently 148 First Nation communities participating in the Reserve Lands and Environment Management Program and 243 land managers have been certified since the inception of the Professional Lands Managers Certification Program in 2006.
• To date, 166 communities have a Land Use Plan in place, which is approximately 26.1 percent of all First Nations in Canada. Another 64 First Nations have Land Use Plans currently in development.

Lead

Lands and Environment Management Branch

Lands and Economic Development Sector

About the Program

• Canada has legal, regulatory, and fiduciary obligations to manage 44 reserve^{Footnote 10} land-related sections of the Indian Act for over 500 First Nations (approximately 8.5 million acres of land). Largely unchanged since the 1950s, these Indian Act provisions are widely perceived as creating obstacles to self-determination and economic development.
• First Nations are increasingly interested in adding land to reserve to take advantage of economic development opportunities, especially in urban settings, or to accommodate housing and other public infrastructure as their community populations grow.
• Indigenous Services Canada (ISC) develops and implements policies that support the addition, development, and administration of reserve lands pursuant to the Indian Act. Additionally, ISC officials work with Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada and First Nation organizations to implement the Additions to Reserves Policy Directive, the Addition of Lands to Reserves and Reserve Creation Act and the Framework Agreement on First Nation Land Management Act to add land to reserve, and process other land submissions requiring Ministerial Orders and Order in Councils. ISC administers key land and environmental management information systems and tools to track and report on additions to reserves, contaminated sites, and environmental reviews.
• Finally, ISC is responsible for registering approximately 10,000 First Nation land instruments annually, pursuant to sections of the Indian Act, the Framework Agreement on First Nations Lands Management Act, and the Westbank First Nation Self-Government Act. The Indian Land Registry supports certainty and predictability regarding land use on reserve by delineating what land interests relate to what parcels of land. Fundamentally, it enables sustainable community and economic development by facilitating long-term planning regarding land use and related investments.

Top Key Current Files or Projects

• Budget 2021 provided $43 million over four years, starting in 2021-2022, to work with Indigenous partners and other stakeholders to redesign the federal Additions to Reserve Policy and accelerate work on existing additions to reserve requests. Of this, $10.8 million was allocated to Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada (CIRNAC) to redesign the policy, and $32.2 million was allocated to ISC to accelerate completion of the approximately 700 active additions to reserve proposals and build capacity in Indigenous organizations. Funding was recently renewed for 2025-2026.
• ISC continues to work collaboratively with the National Aboriginal Lands Managers Association and other stakeholders to update and modernize Indian Act land policies, procedures, and tools. This initiative seeks to be responsive to changes in legislation and policy that better support the self-government and self-determination aspirations of First Nations.
• ISC is also modernizing a variety of platforms, databases, and tracking systems to modernize technology, enhance tracking, and improve data collection.

Key Milestones

• To date, over two-thirds of the land policies to support Indian Act land administration have been updated in collaboration with First Nations, including designations, leasing, permits, non-metallic minerals, environment, and timber. The accompanying procedures to these policies are expected to be finalized within the next two years. ISC has also updated the documentation requirements to improve national consistency and improve usability.
• ISC has established an Additions to Reserve Duty to Consult team. The team regularly provides training and direct support on complex files to ISC regional offices, and to negotiators at CIRNAC working on settlement agreements that will lead to Additions to Reserves. Internal duty to consult guidelines were recently finalized and disseminated to all federal officials involved in additions to reserves. Furthermore, a consultation protocol was recently negotiated with the Manitoba Métis Federation to support additions to reserves in Manitoba. This protocol will be piloted in 2025-2026.
• The Indian Land Registrar successfully developed and implemented a Non-Disclosure Agreement and Information Sharing Agreement to transfer First Nation land instruments to a third party for system development purposes. Parties are currently working on a Memorandum of Understanding to support the ongoing technical requirements of future data transfers. This is an important step towards self-determination.

Results and Outcomes

• Funding provided through Budget 2021 supported 85 First Nations with various technical components of the additions to reserve process (i.e., environmental site assessments, surveys, municipal service agreements, etc.), and further enhanced capacity within First Nations by supporting four Indigenous organizations. These investments culminated in increasing the number of additions to reserve approvals from 17 in 2023-2024 to 67 in 2024-2025. An additional 47 land submissions were prepared for Ministerial approval, including 17 land designations to support First Nation economic and business development initiatives.
• 9,515 First Nation land instruments were registered, ensuring legal certainty and predictability required to facilitate sustainable community economic development.

Lead

Lands and Environmental Management Branch

Lands and Economic Development Sector

About the Initiatives

• Environment and climate change programs and initiatives at ISC support the health, well‑being and sustainability of First Nations communities, as well as to ensure reserve land maintains environmental integrity.
  • First Nations Solid Waste Management Initiative: Launched in 2016, the initiative supports the construction and operation of engineered transfer stations and landfills; diversion, recycling and composting programs; partnerships with third parties and municipalities; municipal type service agreements; community awareness; job creation and operator training; and the cleaning up and closure of inactive waste disposal sites. Since the initiative's inception in 2016, it has supported the development, maintenance and operations of sustainable waste management systems in First Nation communities, increasing the number of communities with adequate waste management systems from two percent to 50 percent.
  • Contaminated Sites on Reserve: The Program provides funding to First Nations to assess and remediate on-reserve lands impacted by contaminants, such as mercury, lead, arsenic, petroleum hydrocarbons, polychlorinated biphenyls, and dioxins and furans. The goal is to ensure that these lands are safe and available to communities for social, cultural, and economic development use once again. There are currently 2,134 sites within ISC's inventory that are suspected or known to be contaminated; these sites represent a known environmental liability of $307.7 million and a contingent liability (uncertainty related to responsibility) of $60.8 million.
  • Impact Assessment and Environmental Review Process: Under the Impact Assessment Act, ISC has responsibilities related to the impact assessment process of designated projects (large projects on or off reserve that are likely to have environmental, health, social and economic impacts) as well as conducting environmental reviews for non‑designated projects, which ISC supports on reserve lands (usually lower-risk small- to medium-sized projects). ISC led the co-development of, and continues to fund, the Indigenous Centre for Cumulative Effects, a not-for-profit organization helping to build the scientific and technical capacity of Inuit, Métis and First Nations related to cumulative effects.

Top Key Current Files or Projects

• First Nations Solid Waste Management Initiative: Annually, the ISC works with communities to deliver approximately 300 waste management projects. In 2025-2026, the ISC is disbursing $73 million in project funding and $51 million in operations and maintenance funding.
• Contaminated Sites on Reserve: In 2025-2026, the Program will assess approximately 80 contaminated sites and undertake remediation/risk management activities on roughly 115 sites. ISC is supporting the Mohawk Council of Kanesatake with the environmental site assessment of the G&R Recycling site. This is a waste site on Kanesatake Mohawk territory that has caused significant concerns in the neighbouring community about environmental contamination and off-site discharge.
• Impact Assessment and Environmental Review Process: In 2025-2026, ISC plans to continue to deliver 900 plus environmental reviews and contribute to 57 assessments of major projects under the Impact Assessment Act. The Program will update key tools and policy guidance under the Environmental Review Process in order to comply with new requirements under the Impact Assessment Act.

Key Milestones

• Successful partnership with Indigenous organizations (e.g., Indigenous Zero Waste Advisory Group; First Nations Land Management Resource Centre etc.) to deliver waste services to member communities; multi-year agreements have allowed the Program to begin to move away from proposal-based funding toward a community-led investment planning model.
• Secured ISC funding for Phase V (2025-2030) of the Federal Contaminated Site Action Plan (horizontal initiative led by Environment and Climate Change Canada).
• Environmental Protection Gap: In December 2024, a Joint Table, comprised of representatives from 13 First Nation representative and technical organizations, ISC, and Environment and Climate Change Canada, was established to co-develop legislative and capacity development options in the areas of waste management and unauthorized dumping. An initial interim report is anticipated in June 2025.

Results and Outcomes

• First Nations Solid Waste Management Initiative: As of March 31, 2024, the First Nations Waste Management Initiative has provided $636.8 million in funding to support 1,247 solid waste management projects benefitting 600 First Nations and serving approximately 476,000 people. The percentage of First Nation communities with adequate solid waste management systems has increased from less than two percent in 2016 to 50 percent. Since 2021, the Initiative has supported a new diversion program in 50 First Nations that previously did not have access to waste diversion programs.
• Contaminated Sites on Reserve: The Program has closed a total of 2,435 suspected and known contaminated sites on reserve since 2005.The Program undertook assessment activities on 39 sites, risk management/remediation activities on 105 sites, and as of December 2024, has successfully closed 113 sites in 2024-2025.
• Impact Assessment and Environmental Review Process: The Program supports an average of 900 environmental reviews under the Impact Assessment Act conducted yearly for projects on-reserve. In 2025-2026, ISC also supported the impact assessment process for 57 designated projects.

Lead

Lands and Environmental Management Branch

Lands and Economic Development Sector

About the Service

• Indigenous Services Canada is the single window for funding for emergency management on reserves (preparation, mitigation, response, and recovery), delivered through grants and contribution agreements.
• Canada's emergency management system is under pressure as wildfires and floods are becoming more frequent, intense, and prolonged; particularly due to the effects of large‑scale weather events. First Nations people living on reserves are disproportionately affected, they are significantly more likely to be evacuated than off-reserve residents and often face socio-economic challenges that reduce their ability to prepare for and respond to emergencies.
• The objectives of the Emergency Management Assistance Program is to protect the health, well-being, and safety of First Nations residents on reserves and their infrastructure from natural or accidental hazards, and assist in the remediation of critical infrastructure and community assets impacted by emergency events. ISC reimburses First Nations partners, provincial and territorial governments and other third-party service providers or non‑government organizations (such as the Canadian Red Cross) for 100 percent of eligible costs incurred in the delivery of emergency management services to First Nation communities.
• In 2024–2025, ISC spent over $670 million on preparedness, mitigation, response, and recovery activities on reserve.

Top Key Current Files or Projects

• Emergency Management Multilateral Service Agreements. ISC is committed to advancing emergency management multilateral service agreements with First Nation partners and provincial and territorial governments. This new approach to emergency management will foster better relationships with First Nation communities and ensure that they are full and equal partners in all four pillars of emergency management: mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery.
• Risk Based Approach and Emergency Management Coordinators. ISC developed a new risk-based approach to inform investments in emergency management and target funding to communities at the highest risk of experiencing an emergency event. In addition, ISC has made efforts to increase the number of Emergency Management Coordinator. In 2024‑2025, ISC supported over 260 Emergency Management Coordinator positions, and plans to support 290 position in 2025-2026.
• Joint Advisory Committee. In order to better understand the experiences of those working in emergency management in First Nations communities and organizations, ISC has formed a joint advisory committee with the Assembly of First Nations. It is made up of First Nations emergency management practitioners from across the country who meet regularly to provide input on ISC efforts to improve the Emergency Management Assistance Program and the supports it provides to First Nations.

Key Milestones

• In response to First Nations concerns, ISC implemented a system for advance payments to respond to emergency events and has made this a permanent process going forward for communities in need. Providing advanced payments provides the financial security for communities to pursue immediate actions to respond to the imminent threat and mitigate against its impacts.
• In 2024, a new invoice review process was implemented to expedite review of claims along with supporting tools that assist in claim preparation and eligibility determination. This new process should lessen the reporting burden faced by partners and make proposal applications more efficient.
• To support the development of multilateral emergency management service agreements, ISC has successfully formed multiple governance tables with First Nations partners across Canada.

Results and Outcomes

• Between the cyclical event season of April 1 and September 30, 2024, ISC saw 104 emergency events impacting 96 First Nations communities and supported over 16,753 evacuees from 30 First Nations.
• In 2024-2025 ISC supported over 179 Non-Structural Mitigation and Preparedness projects. These small-scale projects were undertaken by First Nations communities on reserve to prepare for and mitigate emergencies caused by natural disasters.
• ISC also funded over 69 FireSmart program projects, which enhances First Nation communities' wildfire management capacity by supporting wildland fire nonstructural mitigation and preparedness initiatives.

Lead

Sector Operations Branch

Regional Operation Sector

Context

• As of 2021, there are an estimated 80,000 Indigenous businesses within Canada, 2,330 of which are located on First Nations reserves. Métis own the majority of Indigenous businesses (55.1 percent), with First Nations owning 41.3 percent of businesses and Inuit owning 1.6 percent. Indigenous businesses contribute nearly $48.9 billion to the Canadian economy annually, a figure that could increase with adequate supports to remove systemic barriers for Indigenous entrepreneurs (source: National Indigenous Economic Development Board (NIEDB) Progress Report). Indigenous businesses are most concentrated in retail trade, construction, and accommodation and food services.
• The population of self-employed Indigenous Peoples continues to grow at a greater pace than that of self-employed non-Indigenous peoples overall, increasing from 7.4 percent in 2016 to 9.8 percent in 2021. In contrast, non-Indigenous peoples were self-employed at a rate of 14.7 percent in 2021, an increase from 11.7 percent in 2016 (National Indigenous Economic Development Board Progress Report, 2021).
• There is enormous diversity across location, size, and sector of Indigenous businesses. However, access to capital is a major barrier for most Indigenous entrepreneurs, over half of whom relied on personal savings to start their business.
• In 2021, the median income of Indigenous Peoples was $34,800, which is $6,400 lower than that of the non-Indigenous population. The median income of First Nation peoples who are registered and living on reserves was less than half of the non-Indigenous population (from Annual Report to Parliament 2020 (sac-isc.gc.ca)).
• Businesses that are incorporated and have employees are more likely to report revenue growth. However, Section 87 of the Indian Act serves as a deterrent to incorporation. Section 89 of the Indian Act restricts the use of collateral for those on reserves, which has a negative impact on their ability to finance a business.

Land Management, Protection and Control

• There are over nine million acres of reserve lands, representing 3.7 percent of Canada's total land mass, with an additional 3 to 4 million acres of land owed to First Nations through existing Treaty Land Entitlement and Specific Claims settlement agreements. Currently, ISC provides some level of funding to support the administration and management of reserve lands, natural resources, and the environment to 46.5 percent of First Nations.
• Additions to Reserve, the process by which Nations grow their land base, contribute significantly to reconciliation with First Nations and improves Nations ability to access lands and resources for community and economic development opportunities.
• The Indian Act guides the management of reserve lands. However, there are 118 First Nations who have enacted community ratified land codes, opting out of 44 lands-related sections of the Indian Act and reasserting jurisdiction over their lands under the Framework Agreement on First Nation Land Management.
• To date, six regulations have been created under the First Nations Commercial and Industrial Development Act to enable complex developments on reserve at the request of First Nations. Projects enabled by these regulations include a sawmill operating on Fort William First Nation in the Thunder Bay area and large multi-unit housing complexes on Squamish Nation in the Vancouver lower mainland.
• Waste management does not exist in every First Nation. On average, more than 1,000 projects that help communities to manage and dispose of their waste are completed annually. Proper waste management is one key factor to stopping land contamination.
• There are currently 2,134 contaminated sites on reserves across Canada, with a known environmental liability of $307.7 million (March 31, 2024). The Federal Contaminated Sites Program successfully closed 64 sites in 2023-2024, resulting in a total of 2,435 sites closed since 2005, making suspected and known contaminated sites available for community use. A 'closed' site means that reviews, testing, clean-ups or long-term monitoring activities have determined that no further action is required.

Lead

Lands and Economic Development Sector

About the Agency

• Indian Oil and Gas Canada (IOGC) is a special operating agency of Indigenous Services Canada located on the Tsuut'ina First Nation lands near Calgary, Alberta. It manages and regulates oil and gas resources on designated First Nation lands as these lands are within federal jurisdiction.
• Indian Oil and Gas Canada has a dual mandate of:
  • fulfilling the Crown's fiduciary and statutory obligations related to the management of oil and gas resources on designated First Nation lands; and
  • furthering First Nation initiatives to manage and control their oil and gas resources such as governance.
• A co-management board oversees Indian Oil and Gas Canada with six representatives appointed by the Indian Resource Council. The Indian Resource Council is an advocacy‑based organization that promotes changes to federal policy to improve economic development opportunities for over 170 First Nations and their members.
• Approximately 33 First Nations had active oil and gas production in 2023-2024, with an additional 17 First Nations with inactive oil and gas infrastructure, across Alberta, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and British Columbia. Further, there are legacy oil and gas wells across Ontario First Nations that require remediation and reclamation.
• In 2023-2024, Indian Oil and Gas Canada collected $103.9 million in oil and gas revenues on behalf of First Nations, down 37 percent from $161 million from the previous fiscal year. As of December 31, 2024, Indian Oil and Gas Canada collected approximately $85.7 million in oil and gas revenues on behalf of First Nations in the current fiscal year, and these monies are remitted to the trust accounts of the Nations.

Top Current Files or Projects

• Improved engagement with First Nations to support First Nations' control of their oil and gas resources.
• Indian Oil and Gas Canada is working to enhance the capacity of First Nations to optimize economic benefits from remediation and reclamation activities , and reduce liabilities on their lands once the oil or gas resources have reached end of life.
• Providing targeted First Nation client servicesto prepare the groundwork for further First Nations control and self-reliance.

Key Milestones

• 2025-2028 Strategic Management Plan: Indian Oil and Gas Canada engaged the co‑management board in the development of this plan, which was a first in several years for the Agency. This plan marks a turning point for Indian Oil and Gas Canada and provides a clear multi-year path forward with more deliberate annual strategic actions.

Lead

Indian Oil and Gas Canada

About the Programs

• ISC has several initiatives that focus on supporting Indigenous communities to prepare for economic opportunities that provide collective benefit to their members, including community-owned businesses that provide revenue streams for investments in other programming.
• The Lands and Economic Development Services Program (LEDSP) providesFirst Nation and Inuit communities south of 60 in the provinces with additional supports to enhance their economic development, land, and environmental capacity, while supporting activities that create the conditions for economic development to occur.
• The Community Opportunity Readiness Program (CORP) provides First Nation and Inuit communities south of 60 with funding for a range of activities to support their pursuit of economic opportunities. The Program provides a portion of the project budget and is intended to fill the gaps from other lenders or the community's resources.
• The Strategic Partnerships Initiative (SPI) supports Indigenous participation in large scale, complex economic development opportunities. The Program is internal to the Government of Canada and provides a way for multiple departments to coordinate their efforts, leverage/pool funding from multiple sources, and reduce administrative burden through the use of a shared horizontal program authority. Its goal is to increase the economic opportunities available to Indigenous communities and businesses by promoting partnerships between federal and non-federal groups in key economic areas and provide funding to projects and opportunities that are not eligible for other federal funding. The Program is managed by ISC on behalf of a growing network of 23 federal partners.

Top Key Current Files or Projects

• Support capacity-building efforts in communities to improve the delivery of economic development services and build on successful investments by supporting projects that leverage private sector investment and lead to higher community revenues and employment.

Results and Outcomes

• In 2024-2025, the Community Opportunity Readiness Program Priority Framework funded 20 projects (six community economic infrastructure projects, 13 equity gap projects, and one economic opportunity project). Program contributions were $28.9 million and total project budgets were $171.5 million. Up to 494 sustainable full-time jobs were projected to be created from these investments over eight years. The primary industries supported include business development, expansion, acquisition, infrastructure development, and retail trade operations.
• Over the last five years, Community Opportunity Readiness Program investments leveraged an average of $5.35 for every $1 that the Program contributed. In 2023-2024, there were two large projects that substantially increased the leverage ratio to $10.74 for every $1 that ISC invested. In 2024-2025 the leverage factor was $7.26 to $1.00.
• For fiscal year 2025-2026, the Strategic Partnerships Initiative is delivering:
  • $24.7 million in Grants and Contributions. Eligible recipients include Indigenous communities and local governments, Indigenous businesses, provincial and territorial governments, and academic institutions. Areas of investment include mining/critical minerals, fisheries, forestry, energy, tourism and agriculture.
• To date, the program has:
  • funded 70 initiatives;
  • leveraged $676 million from other sources (1:3 leveraging ratio);
  • directly or indirectly benefited over 470 Indigenous communities; and
  • created 246 partnerships.

Lead

Economic Business Opportunities

Economic Programs Management Directorate

Lands and Economic Development Sector

About the Program

• The First Nations Commercial and Industrial Development Act addresses regulatory gaps that prevent large-scale, complex, and high-value commercial and industrial projects from occurring on reserve. Reserve land falls under federal jurisdiction and thus provincial frameworks and regulations, which have been developed to govern these complex projects, do not apply.
• To address this, project-specific regulations are developed under the First Nations Commercial and Industrial Development Act that incorporate by reference^{Footnote 11} relevant provincial regulations. Without the regulations developed under this Act and the associated tripartite agreements, these projects would not move forward.
• Regulations under the First Nations Commercial and Industrial Development Act are "opt-in" in that a First Nation must request that the federal government create regulations through a Band Council Resolution. Regulations reduce legal uncertainty and risk, and enhance confidence for First Nations, investors, developers and the public.
• Associated tripartite agreements are negotiated between the First Nation, the province, and Canada to detail ongoing administration and enforcement of the project regulations.
• By creating a seamless regulatory environment on reserve, First Nations Commercial and Industrial Development Act projects generate significant economic benefits, as well as grow First Nation communities through the creation of ongoing revenue streams and employment for First Nations.
• A recent success is the Squamish Nation Residential Tenancy Regulations, enacted in June 2023, which supports the development of Sen̓áḵw, an 11-tower, 6,000 unit complex in downtown Vancouver. This project is anticipated to generate $20 billion in economic benefits to the community. The regulations provide residential tenants, as well as landlords, with the same protections as they would enjoy off reserve.

Top Key Current Files or Projects

• The Fort McKay First Nation's on-reserve oil sands mining project has the potential to generate over $2 billion for the economy. The Fort McKay First Nation Oil Sands Regulations, first enacted in 2006, were recently updated through amendments in 2023. ISC is now in the second phase of this complex project whereby the three parties (Canada, Alberta, and Fort McKay First Nation) are engaging in discussions to draft regulations and negotiate an associated tripartite agreement that establishes a royalty regime similar to that which exists on provincial lands.
• The Fort William First Nation Sawmill Regulations facilitated the transition of an existing sawmill operation located in Ontario from provincial to reserve land. This sawmill operation is currently generating millions of dollars to the economy, as well as the creating ongoing revenue streams and employment for the Fort William community and its surrounding First Nations. The regulations, developed in 2011, currently require amendments to reflect changes in the Ontario provincial regime.
• ISC is exploring the potential for the First Nations Commercial and Industrial Development Act to be modernized to enable more First Nations to benefit from economic development projects on reserve.
• ISC is planning on conducting both internal and external outreach to raise awareness of the First Nations Commercial and Industrial Development Act and its related partnership opportunities, so that First Nations, other jurisdictions, and private sector investors are aware of this important tool for economic development.

Key Milestones

• Targeting completion of the Fort McKay First Nation Oil Sands Royalty Regulations and associated intergovernmental agreement, by the end of the 2025.
• Targeting completion of amendments to the 2011 Fort William First Nation Sawmill Regulations, by the end of the 2025-2026 fiscal year.
• Targeting engagement and feedback sessions with past First Nation participants, provincial governments, and private sector investors over the course of fiscal year 2025-2026.

Lead

Statutory, Legislative and Policy Implementation Directorate

Lands and Economic Development Sector

About the Program

Top Key Current Files or Projects

• Currently, work is underway to implement recommendations stemming from the recent Indigenous Entrepreneurship and Business Development Program evaluation to increase program relevance, effectiveness, and efficiency. This includes expanding the Access to Capital stream to reach a larger number of clients (i.e., youth and women), and exploring service transfer for the Access to Business Opportunities stream.
• ISC is working with Indigenous partners, the National Aboriginal Capital Corporations Association, the Métis Capital Corporations, the Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, as well as economic development agencies and corporations, and other government departments on policy issues related to access to capital and innovative financing solutions, such as ensuring efficient deployment of the Indigenous Growth Fund, and implementing the Métis Capital Corporations Recapitalization funding.

Key Milestones

• Budget 2024 provided $350 million over five years, starting in 2024-2025, to renew Canada's commitment to Indigenous entrepreneurs and Indigenous Financial Institutions through the Aboriginal Entrepreneurship Program - Access to Capital stream. This funding increases access to affordable capital and business supports for Indigenous women and youth entrepreneurs, thereby helping reduce barriers for success.

Results and Outcomes

• From April 2022 to March 31, 2023, the National Aboriginal Capital Corporations Association reported the following results, with some projections:
  • the total number of businesses supported was 1,080, including 391 start-up businesses and 689 expansions;
  • approximately 3,860 jobs (full-time equivalents) were created or maintained; and
  • lending was up by approximately five percent, from $121 million to $127 million.
• Since 2019, the five Métis Capital Corporations have approved/dispersed approximately $70.9 million in loans to over 1,080 Métis-owned businesses across Canada.
• It is estimated that approximately 1,760 loans per year would be made by Indigenous Financial Institutions and Métis Capital Corporations through the Aboriginal Entrepreneurship Program (Access to Capital) and Recapitalization of Métis Capital Corporations.

Lead

Economic Policy Development Branch

Land and Economic Development Sector

About the Programs

Top Key Current Files or Projects

• ISC has begun to implement a national engagement and consultations strategy with national and regional Indigenous economic development organizations, modern treaty land claim agreement holders, and Indigenous businesses to help inform the co‑development of a Transformative Indigenous Procurement Strategy.
• ISC, working with Public Services and Procurement Canada and Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat, is implementing the Procurement Strategy for Indigenous Business and the minimum five percent mandatory Indigenous procurement target across 96 federal departments and agencies.

Key Milestones

• The mandatory minimum five percent Indigenous procurement target has been phased‑in with the following milestones:
  • Changes to the Procurement Strategy for Indigenous Business, including broadening the definition of "Indigenous business" and expanding the size and number of geographic areas where procurements are limited to Indigenous businesses.
  • Mandatory public reporting to ensure that all federal departments and agencies are held accountable to meet the mandatory target of at least five percent.
  • Continuing meaningful engagement with Indigenous partners to co-develop a Transformative Indigenous Procurement Strategy, including transfer of service to external to government Indigenous-led organization(s).

Results and Outcomes

• Additional Indigenous businesses have registered in the Indigenous Business Directory, and it is anticipated that modernization of existing policies and processes will improve inclusion of Indigenous businesses in the federal supply chain.
• In 2022-2023, ISC (as a contracting department) awarded 17.7 percent of the total value of its contracts to Indigenous businesses. In 2023-2024, ISC awarded 14.2 percent of its contracts to Indigenous businesses.

Lead

Lands and Economic Development Sector

About the Program

• ISC is responsible for legislation and policies that support the governance of First Nations, primarily around elections and lawmaking under the Indian Act, as well as the First Nations Elections Act.

Elections

• The majority of First Nations governments are composed of a chief and councillors who are responsible for making decisions on behalf of the First Nation and its members. There are different regimes under which First Nations hold elections.
• Approximately 116 First Nations in Canada hold elections under the Indian Act and the Indian Band Election Regulations. Under the Act, elections must be held every two years. In an election held under the Indian Act, ISC:
  • verifies the appointment of electoral officers;
  • trains and supports electoral officers during the election to ensure that election rules are followed;
  • approves the First Nation council's choice of electoral officer or appoints the electoral officer when there is no First Nation council in place; and
  • receives, investigates, and decides on election appeals.
• A First Nation that holds its elections under the Indian Act election system may develop its own community election code and ask the Minister of Indigenous Services to issue an order that removes the First Nation from the application of the Act's electoral provisions. Currently, 373 First Nations in Canada hold their elections under a community election code. Community or custom leadership selection processes are often documented in a community's election code, which provide the rules under which chiefs and councillors are chosen for those First Nations who are not under the Indian Act election rules.
• ISC is never involved in elections held under community or custom election processes, nor will it interpret, decide on the validity of the process, or resolve election appeals. The Department's role is limited to recording the election results provided by the First Nation.
• Finally, the First Nations Elections Act and First Nations Elections Regulations came into force on April 2, 2015. There are 91 First Nations in Canada currently holding elections under the Act. The Act and Regulations were developed in collaboration with First Nations organizations to make improvements to First Nations election processes (e.g., the term length under the Indian Act is two years vs. four years under the First Nations Elections Act).

By-Laws

• First Nation by-laws are local laws passed by a First Nation council to regulate affairs within its community. They govern activities on all reserve lands under the control of the band council that passed the by-law. By-laws apply to everyone present on the reserve, regardless of whether they are a band member or live on the reserve. They are enacted when they cover subjects found within powers provided to the council under the Indian Act. According to section 81, 83, and 85.1 of the Indian Act, band councils may make by-laws providing they are not contrary to the Indian Act, or regulations enacted pursuant to section 73 of the Indian Act.
• ISC provides support to First Nations in exercising their by-law making authorities provided under the Indian Act through the provision of training and information. It provides policy support, technical information and subject matter on by-law drafting and implementation. It also supports professional development and provides certification to First Nation by-law administrators and justice coordinators working with law enforcement and independent legal counsel to develop enforceable by-laws.
• There are an estimated 5700 Indian Act by-laws currently in force across 635 First Nations across Canada, though this number may be underestimated given gaps in data.

Top Key Current Files or Projects

• Training and supporting electoral officers in the conduct of elections under the Indian Act and the First Nations Elections Act.
• Receiving, reviewing, and making a determination with respect to appeals of elections held under the Indian Act. In a small percentage of appeals, the determination requires that the Minister of Indigenous Services report to the Governor-in-Council with a recommendation that the election be set aside.
• Preparing orders removing First Nations from the electoral provisions of the Indian Act and/or adding them to the schedule to the First Nations Elections Act for timely Ministerial approval.

Lead

Economic Policy Development Branch

Lands and Economic Development Sector

About the Program

• Strong, transparent, and accountable First Nations governments are essential to advancing self-determination, delivering quality programs and services, and achieving socio-economic progress. Prudent financial management undertaken by governments that operate in a transparent, responsive, and accountable manner is key to the successful and enduring transfer of departmental programs and services, and the establishment of stable long-term partnerships and agreements.
• In fiscal year 2024-2025, ISC supported Indigenous governments through the provision of the following programs:
  • Band Support Funding is Canada's main support for the ongoing costs of First Nations' core government functions (576 First Nations).
  • Employee Benefits provides First Nations employers with funding to support their share of employee benefit and pension plans (565 First Nations and organizations).
  • Tribal Council Funding provides core operational funding to tribal councils (First Nations who join together for aggregate services) to develop the capacities of their affiliated First Nations, and deliver services (78 tribal councils).
  • Professional and Institutional Development provides project-based supports to First Nations and Inuit communities to strengthen their capacity across core functions of government (290 First Nations, Inuit communities and supporting organizations supported). Dedicated funding is also allocated as targeted supports to 98 First Nations experiencing the greatest governance challenges.
• Launched in 2022-2023, the Community Development Wrap-Around Initiative provides a whole of government streamlined approach for 22 First Nation communities to implement community-driven priorities. This approach supports communities in developing stronger federal, provincial, and private sector partnerships by leveraging existing program resources, accessing capacity development opportunities, and utilizing flexible funding to address program and authority limitations.

Top Key Current Files or Projects

• Governance Modernization: ISC, in partnership with the Assembly of First Nations, the Aboriginal Financial Officers' Association, Canada, and the First Nations Financial Management Board has been reviewing governance programs to better align with First Nations' goals for self-determination and greater responsibility. This work includes exploring updated policy approaches and funding models.
• Community Development Wrap-Around Initiative: The Initiative was developed with Budget 2021 investments ($151.4 million) to provide wrap-around support to 22 First Nations communities, nationally, in implementing their community-driven priorities over five years. The initiative is now in year four of five in 2025-2026.

Key Milestones

• Budget 2024 provided $275 million over two years (2024-2025 and 2025-2026) in supplementary funding to maintain Indigenous Governance and Capacity programs and support governance capacity development.

Results and Outcomes

• Since investments beginning in 2017-2018, the number of First Nations defaulting on their funding agreements fell by 34 percent (from 137 in 2017 to 90 in 2023), implying improvements in financial management capacity. 
• Supports through the Indigenous Governance and Capacity programs also correspond to greater economic opportunities, such as opting into more favourable funding arrangements. In 2024-2025, 160 First Nations had New Fiscal Relationship Grant agreements. In addition, the number of First Nations with a community-led plan has increased from 23 percent to 44 percent from 2017 to 2024.
• To date, the Community Development Wrap-Around Initiative has leveraged $143.5 million in partnership funding, with an investment of $56.5 million. The 22 participating communities have developed relationships with 149 partners in federal, provincial, and private sector program areas. Community development projects have been completed in multiple areas including infrastructure, housing, safety, and emergency management. To date, 230 jobs have been created in communities, and in-community capacity in areas of governance, project planning and skills development has been built.

Lead

Sector Operations Branch

Regional Operations Sector

About the Program

• The New Fiscal Relationship Grant is an optional funding mechanism that provides predictable and flexible funding to eligible recipients^{Footnote 12} for up to 28 programs and services. The New Fiscal Relationship Grant supports self-determination by providing recipients with:
  • long-term funding predictability through a renewable term of up to ten years;
  • flexibility to design and deliver services to meet community priorities;
  • flexibility to allocate, manage and use funding to address changing circumstances;
  • ability to retain unspent funds;
  • predictable cash flow options with annual payments available April 1 each year;
  • annual funding escalation based on inflation and population growth; and
  • reduction in administrative reporting.
• It differs from ISC's standard approach to funding, which is often shorter-term, tied to specific programs or services, and includes more detailed reporting requirements.
• The New Fiscal Relationship underpins progress towards eliminating socio‐economic gaps between First Nations and non-Indigenous peoples and in successful service transfer. It is founded on mutual accountability, whereby First Nations are primarily accountable to their own citizens.

Key Current Files or Projects

• ISC, the Assembly of First Nations, and the First Nations Financial Management Board co‑developed a 10-year New Fiscal Relationship Grant for eligible First Nations in April 2019. It offers predictable, flexible funding for core services (such as education, income assistance, assisted living, and more), with reduced reporting. The Grant enables First Nations to assume greater responsibility for the design and delivery of services, and to allocate funding based on community priorities.

Key Milestones

• Currently, 160 First Nations are receiving the Grant as of 2024-2025. Callouts are made annually to invite more First Nations to express interest for the Grant. A total of 360 (62 percent) First Nations have formally expressed interest in the Grant at least once, including 59 First Nations have expressed interest in joining the Grant in 2025‑2026.
• Budget 2021 announced a guaranteed escalator, funded for ten years and ongoing, for Grant funding to take into account inflation and population, with a minimum growth of two percent. In 2024-2025, the Grant escalator provided $102 million to First Nations.
• In fall 2024, New Fiscal Relationship Grant eligibility was expanded to include Tribal Councils, health authorities and other First Nations-led service delivery entities. A total of 40 entities have expressed interest in the Grant for 2025-2026.
• A set of adaptable resources have been completed, informed through five years of engagement with First Nations citizens, data experts, leaders, and organizations, designed to help First Nations governments lead their own outcome-based reporting. These resources can be used by First Nations to measure and report on their community's well-being and success based on their own.

Results and Outcomes

• In the long term, First Nations receiving the Grant are expected to experience an improvement in socio-economic outcomes and an accelerated closure of gaps with non‑Indigenous peoples.
• The reporting burden for First Nations receiving the Grant has been reduced by up to 92 percent for the funding areas covered by the Grant.

Lead

Fiscal Arrangement Branch

Strategic Policy and Partnerships Sector

About the Program

• Through Budget 2021, ISC received $81.5 million over three years to launch the Transformational Approach to Indigenous Data (TAID) to support First Nations, Inuit, and Métis capacity and preparedness to collect, manage, use and access data. An additional $26.4 million to Transformational Approach to Indigenous Data for the 2025-2026 fiscal year has been committed.
• This multi-phase, multi-stream initiative is intended to culminate in First Nations-, Inuit-, and Métis-led statistical organizations; prepare ISC for the data transition required to support the transfer of responsibilities; and increase the visibility of Indigenous Peoples in national statistics.
• Transformational Approach to Indigenous Data aligns with ISC's legislative mandate, which commits to supporting Indigenous Peoples in assuming control of the delivery of services at the pace and in the ways they choose. Transformational Approach to Indigenous Data also supports Indigenous Data Sovereignty per the 2023-2026 Data Strategy for the Federal Public Service and advances Canada's commitments under the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act and the United Nations Declaration Action Plan.
• To ensure that Indigenous Peoples have the data needed to control, design, deliver and manage their services, data transfers will occur alongside the transfer of responsibilities. First Nations, Inuit, and Métis Nations need to have robust, foundational data capacity to receive data transfers of this magnitude. Transfer of responsibilities also requires that ISC's external data sharing governance and data assets are ready, and that ISC has identified the legislative and policy options available to enable the full transfer of departmental data assets to the future Indigenous statistical institutions, on a community consent basis and in alignment with First Nations, Inuit, and Métis data sovereignty principles.

Current Files or Projects

• In Stream 1: Readying ISC Data Transition, ISC is working to facilitate data sharing with Indigenous partners as a first step towards the eventual transfer of departmental data assets to Indigenous control along with related service delivery responsibilities.
• In Stream 2: Strengthening First Nations Data Capacity, ISC is supporting the First Nations Information Governance Centre and its regional partners to establish a network of national and regional information governance centers, as envisioned in the 2020 First Nations Data Governance Strategy.
• In Stream 3: Strengthening Inuit Data Capacity, ISC is supporting Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami to identify their long-term data and data capacity needs and create a data strategy to advance them. This work builds on the Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami's 2018 National Inuit Strategy on Research, particularly Priority #4, which is "to ensure Inuit access, ownership, and control over data and information."
• In Stream 4: Strengthening Métis Nation Data Capacity, ISC is supporting signatories to the Canada-Métis Nation Accord, to identify their long term data and data capacity needs and create a data strategy to advance them.
• In Stream 5: Engaging Statistics Canada to Support Indigenous Data Capacity, ISC is collaborating with Statistics Canada to support Indigenous partners in building Indigenous data capacity (as per streams 2-4), and to improve the visibility of Indigenous Peoples in Canada's national statistics. Statistics Canada was not included in Transformational Approach to Indigenous Data funding for the 2025-2026 fiscal year, and these activities are expected to cease for the 2025-2026 year.

Results and Outcomes

• Stream 1: ISC enhanced Departmental data governance and data sharing capacities through the release of, and training on, ISC Guide to External Data Sharing with supporting tools and templates. Development of a Departmental Policy on External Data Sharing is in progress. ISC is currently administering approximately 40 Information Sharing Agreements (ISA) with external partners. These Information Sharing Agreements include priority areas such as Child and Family Services, Jordan's Principle, and Indian Land Registration System.
• Stream 2: The First Nations Information Governance Centre established one national and ten regional Data Champion Teams and is drafting a blueprint for implementation of the First Nation Data Governance Strategy based on comprehensive engagement with rights‑holders. They established a strong collaborative relationship with the Government of Canada through Memorandums of Collaboration that identified priority projects.
• Stream 3, 4: Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, Métis National Council, and Manitoba Métis Federation are on track to release their respective data strategies in 2025.
• Stream 5: Statistics Canada co-developed over 40 projects with Indigenous partners and initiated 22 new data collection activities. They also delivered 76 data and statistics-related courses to almost 1500 participants to date.

Lead

Strategic Research and Data Innovation

Strategic Policy and Partnerships Sector

Context

• Recent data indicates that:
  • The average annual number of newly registered individuals is 30,000 and there are just over 1,120,000 registered individuals on the Indian Register.
  • The registered population is expected to grow at a steady pace until 2066, based upon the newly eligible population due to legislative amendments to remove sex-based inequities, the demographics of the registered population and the passing of status to subsequent generations based on demographics estimates produced by Statistics Canada.
  • On an annual basis, approximately 100,000 Secure Certificate of Indian Status are issued. Volumes have increased over the past five years and have remained high, exceeding 100,000 applications in 2023 and 2024. Like all federal identity documents, the Secure Certificate of Indian Status requires renewal at least every ten years (children require renewals every five years).
  • There are 307 First Nations that signed the Historic Treaties (Numbered Treaties and Robinson Treaties) with the Crown that provide for annuities in perpetuity. There are approximately 684,000 registered individuals entitled to treaty annuities.
  • Approximately $3.1 million is paid annually in treaty annuities to entitled First Nation individuals.

Lead

Individual Affairs Branch

Regional Operations Sector

Trust Moneys

Estate Services

Treaty Annuities

Lead

Individual Affairs Branch

Regional Operations Sector

About the Service

• The Indian Registrar renders decisions on whether a person is entitled to registration (known as Indian status) based on the provisions of the Indian Act, and maintains an accurate Indian Register that supports billions of dollars in programming and services, and informs policy and program development.
• The Indian Registrar and the processing of entitlement decisions is based solely on the provisions of the Indian Act and is independent from Ministerial direction or interference.
• Registration under the Indian Act does not confirm whether an individual is Indigenous, but rather, whether an individual is entitled to registration under the legislated provisions in the Indian Act.
• Once registered, an individual may be entitled to a range of rights, services and benefits, for example, Non-Insured Health Benefits, tax exemptions in certain situations, funding for post-secondary education, and treaty annuities for those registered to eligible First Nations.
• ISC issues proof of registration documents, including the Secure Certificate of Indian Status (secure status card) and Certificate of Indian Status (paper-laminated status card), which are federal identification that facilitates access to programs and services.
• All secure status cards are issued with a machine-readable zone to facilitate Canada-United States of America border crossing for persons registered under the Indian Act. ISC also issues Letters of Ancestry used by the United States of America government to determine eligibility under the Jay Treaty for individuals to live, work, or study in the United States.
• Applying and renewing the secure status card has evolved from a paper-based and mail in application process to one that can be completed through the new digital application services at all ISC regional offices.
• The service standard for processing registration applications is six months and the Department meets it in the majority of cases. However, it could take longer depending on the complexity of the application (e.g., adoptions where ancestry needs to be researched). Once registered, the service standard for processing secure status card applications is eight to 12 weeks.
• The average annual number of newly registered individuals is 30,000 and there are just over 1,120,000 registered individuals on the Indian Register. On an annual basis, over 100,000 Secure Certificate of Indian Status are issued.

Top Key Current Files or Projects

Lead

Regional Operations Directorate

Individual Affairs Branch

Regional Operations Sector

About the Service

• Under section 17 of the Indian Act, the Minister of Indigenous Services can recognize, create new bands, and amalgamate or divide existing bands if requested to do so by a group of individuals who are already registered as status Indians or on existing band lists.
• Under subsection 2(1) of the Indian Act, the Governor in Council can recognize a group of unrecognized individuals as a band, which subsequently grants them entitlement to registration under the Indian Act.

Top Key Current Files or Projects

Lead

Individual Affairs Branch - Registration and Integrated Program Management
Regional Operations Sector